Would only care to comment on a couple of your questions, as my background is in electronics / computing
1/ My understanding is that a full six axis Simulator suitable for training line pilots is in the region $17 - $25 million each, depending on the type, which compares very favourably with the cost of a real aircraft.
Where the real saving comes is in the operating costs, and of course that you can subject the pilots to situations that you would not want to replicate on a real a/c, such as engine failure just after V1
Clearly you also don’t have all of the real operation costs, such as fuel, airport landing fees, on-route charges, or maintenance overhead
2/ The hardware used to be custom made, i.e. very expensive custom hardware, and use of Industrial strength software running UNIX for example.
Given the advances in computer hardware and software in the general business world, some migration is taking place to COTS (components off the shelf), but it’s still in the realms of hardware that you might find in a computer room of a corporate bank, rather than on an average desktop.
Failure is not an option, because
A/ It devalues the whole simulation experience (rather defeating the object of it all)
B/ the airlines need pilots to be trained on tight schedules, so they cannot afford any wasted time.
My understanding is that the Utilisation of a simulator that’s in demand can be higher than the “real” aircraft on a daily basis, so could be operating 15 hours plus a day, so your average computer hardware lacks both the raw processing power and reliability needed.
3/ Airbus and Boeing do not themselves make simulators, the main players in the market are
Thales
http://www.thalesgroup.com/ga/busine...simulation.htm
CAE
http://www.cae.com/
And a lot of the visuals for flight simulators is from a company called
Evans and Shutherland
http://www.es.com/
I understand that the Global market for high-end six axis simulators is less than 20 units per year!
Trust this helps.
Colossus