Folks,
More than one pilot has had their career cancelled by CASA requiring they use a certain Metro simulator, with no recourse to demonstrating competence.in an aircraft.
If you go back to when such elementary simulators were new, they were so removed from the real aeroplane, that a pilot failing in the simulator had the right to a second go in a real aeroplane. It is another condemnation of the current CASA approach, that such a right is now denied.
As to the outrageous prices I am now seeing quoted for now mandatory use, it seem to me that the costings are based on the US Flight Safety rates plus return airfares plus a hefty margin. In short, in my opinion, what you are seeing is the inevitable result of a CASA created virtual monopoly.
The QF prices for a simulator for contract usage must make then some of the cheapest simulators in Australia.
Tootle pip!!