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OZZI_PPL
27th May 2010, 23:41
Hi All,

i just stumbled across the website Simsation. They operate a "737" Sim based out of Hobart. I think something similar was (or is) operated on the Gold Coast.

Does anyone have any experience with this or comments on the quality? I originally thought it might just be Microsoft Flight Sim with a homebuilt cockpit, but the photos and specs seem better than I thought.

I'm keen on doing a session, but the prices match what I can hire a real aircraft for (not a 737 though), so seeking comments first.

Cheers.

fanning
27th May 2010, 23:53
Not that I've had much to compare it with (i.e., I haven't used the one in Melbourne or Gold Coast - flight experience I think they are called?), it seems quite professional, based on Microsoft Flight Simulator,

Visuals go behind the windows of the flight deck, about 90% of the buttons/gauges are functional

However at the end of the day, it is home built - albeit a very good one :ok:

Depends what you are after really ;)

The Bunglerat
28th May 2010, 01:30
I originally thought it might just be Microsoft Flight Sim with a homebuilt cockpit

You thought right. The Flight Experience franchise offers a better product, although not by much. To their credit, just about every switch and dial is faithful to the real aeroplane - at least as far as ergonomics/position on the overhead and forward panels are concerned, but they are most definitely third-party as opposed to the original equipment spec. Furthermore, as you already mentioned, the visuals are entirely based on Microsoft Flight Sim. And for the record, I have absolutely no association with either operators.

beaver_rotate
28th May 2010, 02:35
MSG PLovett :ok:

ReverseFlight
28th May 2010, 06:13
Read about it on the manufacturer's website:
Pacific Simulators (http://www.pacificsimulators.com/)

remoak
28th May 2010, 07:16
Last time I sat in a Flight Experience "sim", hardly any of the switches on the overhead worked... no slats... all the usual limitations of MS Flight Sim... plus the lightly-built lever quadrant was falling apart. It certainly didn't fly anything like a 737, other than in a very generic way.

OK as a procedures trainer I guess, if you accept that half the systems won't work.

training wheels
28th May 2010, 12:01
Check this out .. awesome for a home made 744 sim!

MI5WE4eVhCc

Homesick-Angel
28th May 2010, 16:39
As far as I know the company in Hobart and flight experience have nothing to do with each other...

Being a former employee at one of the flight experience stores, the Sim itself is limiting in what you can do with it, but for the procedural stuff-flying departures and Arrivals on instruments it can be useful.

The audio and visuals are different at each store, so there will be big variations in quality there..the parallax errors can be a bit weird and distracting and flying visually can be misleading and not all that realistic as with the handling as has already been mentioned..

The software is pmdg737 an add on for microsoft flight sim..the Sim is really marketed toward people who have an interest in flying, but aren't pilots, and about 95% of my "instructing" was essentially giving people who'd never set foot in any cockpit something resembling a TIF in a 737..Rather a trying and gut churning experience at times and sometimes a bit of fun as well..

On the odd occasion's we did have experienced pilots come in they were generally not disappointed but for some small visual errors, and it is still a pretty convincing feeling(not if you actually fly a 737NG though)to have all that hardware around you particularly if you've mostly flown light aircraft.

I will say here what I never could while I was working there:E..Not knowing your situation I would say use your money to finish that next licence or rating or just build some hours.If your really keen see if someone in the family can cough up a voucher for a birthday or xmas and treat it purely as a bit of fun.

good luck:ok:

OZZI_PPL
29th May 2010, 09:35
Thanks Homesick for the honest opinion.

It looks like fun, but I'm leaning towards spending the cash on an hours worth of AVGAS.

Cheers

Tee Emm
29th May 2010, 14:44
Just be aware that if you fly the flight simulator (synthetic trainer?) in the hope it will prepare you for a Jetstar or Virgin Blue real simulator assessment, the steep turns at 45 degrees bank angle bear no resemblance to the real simulator. The nose attitude in the pseudo sim is far too high and could lead you into errors in the real sim. But if you want just basic instrument scan practice then go for it.

First_Principal
30th May 2010, 07:25
I built a full-size FTD (Flight Training Device) based on the same MSFS engine as the Pacific Simulators machine. I chose to base mine on a C-172 because I was interested in pilot training, as opposed to entertainment, and because I felt it had more relevance to people learning to fly than a 737 might. I deliberately chose to use 'proper' instruments rather than these new-fangled glass things too because for some time I think that'll be the most likely 'real' cockpit they'd come across :}.

To my mind the 737-based units are, for the most part, a pure entertainment machine. If you're working for a company that runs 73's then I'm sure they'll have the procedures (that perhaps include simulators) in place for keeping you current so you'd be unlikely to want to pay casual rates for these. Equally you won't be initially learning to fly on 73's so they're not much use there. 172's on the other hand are probably the most common light aircraft in the world and a person using the 172 FTD could easily step into the real thing at their local aero club or whatever. There is I believe a reasonable transfer of learning between the two machines.

In my case the FTD was used by a flying school for instrument training and for dealing with particular VFR problems people were having. It was successful in both roles and of course would be very useful as a procedural trainer. The hourly charge was around half that of the local Flight Experience machine and in my view represented good value at that (it was also somewhat less than the real thing!). I was always somewhat flabbergasted at the idea of putting Simulators in shopping centres and charging as much as they did. They didn't seem to to me to hit the right price point for either the casual person walking by (would you pay $200+/hr on a whim just when you were getting your groceries or whatever?!) or your average 737 Pilot wanting a refresher (who'd surely use the company equipment). That left a few hard-core entertainment freaks or the odd person interested in the technology or wanting a vague idea of what a 737 cockpit looks like. Hardly a recipe for commercial success IMO, I just didn't think the market would sustain it and I rather suspect that has been borne out over time.

So if you're interested in improving your flying education I think you'd get better value for money with the AVGAS route, if however you're interested in an idea as to what it's like to drive a 73, or what can be done with MSFS and some external tech, then go and have a crack at it :ok:

FP.