Credit: Courtesy Auburn University
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Auburn University student Joseph Young prepares for takeoff in a new Fidelity/Motus 622i Advanced Aviation Training Device, a full-motion flight simulator that can be programmed to replicate a variety of aircraft. Auburn officials recently dedicated and named the machine the Solon Dixon Simulator in honor of Solon Dixon, a 1926 graduate of Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University.
Despite heavy fog and some turbulence, Auburn University flight student Joseph Young carefully maneuvers his aircraft onto the runway for a smooth landing Wednesday after flying a quick loop in the air.
In reality, though, the weather conditions are
manufactured, and Young hasn’t left the confines of the school’s
facility in the back of the Auburn Center for Developing Industries.
Young has just taken the Solon Dixon Simulator, the university’s newest
and most realistic flight simulator, for a successful spin.
“What I like about the flight simulator is the
realism that it simulates and the ability to be in any weather situation
— clear and sunny, calm winds or thunderstorm, horrible conditions —
something you never really want to intentionally get yourself into as a
pilot,” said Young, a junior double-majoring in flight management and
supply chain management. “It lets you portray what you could potentially
run into, and it lets you do a normal flight as well.”
The school has been using the flight simulator for
about a year now, but it was recently dedicated and named in honor of
Solon Dixon, a 1926 graduate of Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now
Auburn University. Dixon worked in forestry management and is the
namesake of Auburn’s Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in Andalusia,
but he began his career as a flight instructor at API. The Solon and
Martha Dixon Foundation contributed a $200,000 gift that helped make the
simulator possible.
The university typically uses simulators to
supplement students’ in-flight training, but the school’s old simulators
don’t come close to matching the Solon Dixon Simulator’s realistic
feel.
“This one is just leaps and bounds ahead — not only
the visuals, but the motion. It feels just like a real airplane,” Young
said. “That’s the beauty of this simulator.”
In addition to the enhanced feel, the simulator can
operate as three different types of aircraft: single-engine piston,
multi-engine piston and the Cessna 500 business jet.
“Because of that versatility, it has widespread
application across all of our students,” said Dale Watson, director of
aviation education at Auburn University.
While the simulator can fabricate certain weather
conditions, it can also simulate in-flight mechanical issues and create
disorientation for the pilot. Nick Lenczycki, Auburn’s assistant chief
flight instructor, demonstrated the disorientation training by making
the simulator lean hard to the left while Young’s controls indicated a
normal incline.
Flight conditions can be altered by a computer nearby the flight simulator.
Watson said the simulator will better prepare student pilots as they graduate from Auburn.
“It’s very realistic compared to what we’ve had …
and it’s a great preparation for their first jobs as professional
pilots,” Watson said.
Source: http://www2.oanow.com
Source: http://www2.oanow.com
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