Simulators and Stuff

Ornery and I were sitting on the couch a couple mornings ago early in the morning.  I had just finished my last cup of coffee for the foreseeable future and he was slowly waking up while drinking his.  He doesn't usually say much in the morning, but that day he seemed to suddenly jolt awake and we had this conversation: (for brevity of typing, he is O and I am OW)

O: I flew a helicopter yesterday and didn't make myself sick!
OW: (grinning) Wow!  I am happy for you!  That is impressive!
O: Not really.  There was no motion.  And there was no visual. (pause) and I didn't take off or land, just started in the air and stayed up there.
OW: Oh. (giggle) 

The conversation went on for a while about the fickle helicopter controls, how hovering is the most complicated thing he has ever tried in an aircraft (he hasn't ever actually flown a real copter, just simulators) because unlike airplanes that have a stick or wheel with a couple of buttons and foot controls, the helicopter has buttons for every finger plus rotating sticks for both hands and foot controls.  That is a lot to keep track of!  On top of that, apparently if you change one thing you have to adjust many others since everything is all tied together.

I can imagine how rough a ride it would be to fly in a helicopter--especially with someone who doesn't have a lot of coordination!  Airplanes usually only go in one direction at a time at a fairly steady rate, whereas a helicopter can really swing around!

Apparently he was in the simulator that day to help out a couple of team mates who tend to get sick while flying the helicopter sims. It is a fairly common occurrence from what I understand.  While testing the software, they have to have the simulator in action to gauge how things are working.  When the simulator is complete, a pilot feels like he is in the actual aircraft, and all the gauges, levers, buttons, visuals and even motion is mimicked to a tee.  During the building process, many of the systems are incomplete, which is why he didn't have visuals or motion yet.

Ornery has worked at Flight Safety International for about 6 years now.  He loves the work and is proud to work for the company. FSI has an excellent reputation for building simulators used by pilots around the world for training.  The simulators are huge, and are designed to emulate the actual planes they are built to replicate.  They contract to build simulators for private companies, the military and for their own training sites.