Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'ravenair'.
Found 2 results
-
A Ravenair Flight Simulator Experience By Paul Mort Our hobby of flight simulation is one which gives us the ability to experience flight in a way unobtainable for most in a real life scenario. For us flight simmers, on a typical flight you walk into your 'cabin', making sure you have the necessary supplies for the flight ahead (perhaps a steaming mug of coffee and a few of your favorite biscuits, but please, no alcohol!), then you fire up your 'bird', trying not to look to your left or right, at the television or the window, lest it should spoil the whole experience of flying through the sky. We all know we are not really 20,000 feet above Peru or Alaska but who says we can't have fun imagining that we are? But what if you could immerse yourself even deeper into flight; would you do it? I am, of course, talking about professional flight simulation packages, where there are no windows looking out onto your garden or the risk of the doorbell ringing in mid-flight is zero! All there is, is you, the cabin and the simulated world you see in front of you. One such place is here in the U.K at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP), home to the Ravenair Flight Simulator. My fiancee, Hilary, and I recently had the pleasure of seeing what they had to offer. www.ringwayflightsim.co.uk The executive director, Bob Williams, has 40 years of experience in the aviation industry and with more than 21,000 hours of flying all over the world under his belt, he is a veteran of flight. With the knowledge he has gained over the years, he now trains private and commercial pilots as well as offering the chance for the average Joe to take the yoke in an aircraft of their choice, from a list that ranges from a Beechcraft Baron to a Boeing or even a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. Click to see the full list of aircraft available to simmers. The company also boasts a fleet of real aircraft which they use for actual training purposes. They include the Piper PA38 Tomahawk, PA28 Warrior, PA23 Aztec 'E', PA34 Seneca, and the Partenavia PN68B Observer. In addition to that, it presently holds more CAA and EASA training approvals than any other North-West organisation. The Ravenair Piper PA28 Warrior The Experience With a mere 40 minute drive door-to-door, we easily found our way to the offices of Ravenair. Once there, we were offered a drink and then introduced to James Hutchinson, our instructor for our one hour session in the simulator. He was a young, typical Liverpudlian - friendly, hospitable and keen to make our experience as enjoyable as possible. The Ravenair office and staff James... ...and his simulator The simulator itself was cleverly constructed in the real fuselage of a Cessna 340, cut down with the wings removed but maintaining the interior. There was little room inside, which made manoeuvring into the cockpit seats no easy task for a big lad such as myself, but then again, no real cockpit could ever be described as being particularly spacious! Although the simulator is a fixed-base, the five wrap-around HD screens give you a real sensation of flight. It is setup to use Prepar3D and uses the default Gibraltar scenery. In the future this will be enhanced to Aerosoft's Gibraltar. An Original Cessna 340 Cockpit An original Cessna 340 The cockpit instruments used were the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke, Multi Panel and Radio Panel, all of which I already own. Whilst that was a benefit as I already knew how each one worked, something a little more...professional...would have made the experienced even more pleasurable. That being said, the Saitek gear actually blended in really well with the rest of the original cockpit. The rudder pedals, something I do not have at home, were from an original Cessna 340 and though heavy to begin with, after a short time I got used to it and found them very easy to use. Saitek equipment The session was very free and easy, with my choice of aircraft being an Airbus A380 and Beechcraft Bonanza, and my locations, Barcelona and Gibraltar. The scenery was stunning, being particularly detailed when we made our descent to Barcelona Airport. I was very pleased with my approach - much to my relief, seeing as I had 'passengers' observing! - and managed to land pretty much on the center line. For me, our second destination will take some beating as far as scenery goes. This has to be one of my favorite simming airports. The island of Gibraltar has an airport with a runway quite close to the sea at both ends, and a lovely bay with beautiful clear blue water which, I'm sure, sparkles like diamonds on a sunny day. One very peculiar detail is that a road carrying traffic actually crosses the middle of the runway. (You wouldn't want to break down there!) Gibraltar with the runway Rock Of Gibraltar seen from airport Quite a lot of friendly banter went on in the hour long session which seemed to fly by, as they always do when you're having fun! Though our relationship is strictly 50/50, this time Hilary sat behind me (sorry dear) while James shot some video and still photographs. I was very pleased with my piloting skills, particularly since it was being captured on film for future evidence, and the whole experience was quite amazing. The 'Silver Fox' takes control 'Where are we .... I've no idea' On approach Conclusion Anyone who has had first-hand experience of a life size simulator will tell you that you truly get immersed in the whole flying situation, and you have to keep reminding yourself that you are still on the ground, in a simulator, otherwise your head could go into overload. They are right! Here's a YouTube link about the experience from the executive Director Bob Williams: Hilary and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent at Ravenair Flight Simulation, which was reasonably priced, and we will not forget it easily. The staff were pleasant as well as informative and we were made to feel very welcome. Even a novice flight simmer would not have been intimidated by their setup nor demeanour. Would I do it again, you ask? In a heartbeat, and I would thoroughly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to immerse themselves even deeper into the hobby they love. /images/features/ravenair/ravenair_flight_sim.jpg Hope you enjoyed reading this article. Paul Mort Ravenair Flight Simulation -
View full article
