Flight simulator development dates back to the early 1900s. In fact, it goes almost hand in hand with the history of aviation.

It was evident from the early days that pilots needed to be trained in something other than real aircraft. It was too dangerous for new pilots and potentially expensive, if things went wrong.

Today flight simulators are an absolute necessity for pilot training. Every airline operator is obliged to use simulators in some way or form with most either owning, or sharing a facility where pilots can log thousands of hours “in the air” without ever leaving the ground. They practice procedures (including emergency procedures and Drills of Vital Action), aircraft handling, routines, and familiarise themselves with the sectors they’ll fly. Emergency procedures occupy much of their time. Despite emergency training most airline captains go through a 30-year career without ever experiencing an aircraft failure or malfunction - thanks to the reliability of modern aircraft.

There are various levels of simulator. Some pilots will recall the “Paper Tiger” as their introduction to a new aircraft type. This was hardly a simulator; more a two-dimensional schematic of a flight deck and controls. Smaller airlines, without simulators would use it as a stepping stone to real aircraft. Most airlines have computer based training where pilots use touch screens mounted on a frame symbolic of the cockpit environment. These give pilots the location of various instruments and controls but do not provide the look and feel of a real aircraft.

At the top end of the range of simulators is the Zero Flight Time Full Motion Flight Simulator. This simulator is so sophisticated that pilots need no time in the real aircraft, after simulator training, before making their first flight in the real aircraft with fare paying passengers.

These highly specified, six-axis simulators move to replicate everything from little bumps on the runway to severe turbulence in a tropical storm. Pilots get the feel of the aircraft, and its handling, making the transition to the real plane easy. Some pilots even say flying the real aircraft is easier than the simulator! If you’re interested in owning one of these - start saving! You can pick up a new B737 ZFT FFS for around NZ$20-25 million. (Plus another $3 million for the housing.) Hire starts at a thousand dollars an hour.

Click here for information about Flight Experience™ simulators.