Learn how to fly with the help of a computer!
01 May 2003
The Cessna C172 Aircraft.
Students at Kangan Batman TAFE’s Aviation Engineering Department will get their first taste at flying with the help of a new $5,000 flight simulator.
The students learn to fly on a Cessna C172 Kangan Batman TAFE aircraft on the simulator, the C172 aircraft is a flight model developed for Microsoft’s FS2002, by Realair Simulations, as part of Kangan Batman TAFE's pilot training.
This C172 aircraft run on Microsoft’s FS2002 flight simulator is proving to be an excellent training resource for staff and students at Kangan Batman TAFE.
What makes this simulator unique is that students will be flying a Cessna C172 with the Kangan Batman TAFE livery. This Realair enhanced C172 flight model is helping Kangan Batman TAFE aviation students in their flight lessons. It is used in the delivery of the Basic Aeronautical Knowledge theory and the Private Pilot Licence theory courses.
According to Greg Free, a teacher at Kangan Batman TAFE’s Aviation Department, the new flight simulator is proving both popular for students and flying enthusiasts trying their hands at flying the Realair KBT 172 Cessna on two flight simulator sites around the world.
“When the aircraft was launched at one of the world’s most respected flight simulator sites AVSIM last month, more than 2,000 people around the world downloaded it on the first day. Till last count more than 9,500 people have downloaded the software and at the Flightsim.com site more than 3,000 people have flown the KBT Cessna 172 aircraft. This list grows every day.”
Kangan Batman TAFE teacher Greg Free approached Realair Simulations to re-write the flight dynamics for a Cessna C172 aircraft as this is one of types of aircrafts used in pilot training at Kangan Batman TAFE. The result from that request has been outstanding.
“Nothing can take the place of real flying, but this program helps students to learn the basics of flying with the ease of a computer. Robert Young at Realair is renowned for his emphasis on flight dynamics detail. This C172 is as close to the real thing as can be,” he says.
Kangan Batman TAFE is one of Australia’s leading aviation training institutes. The Aviation and Engineering Department is located within the Aerospace Industry Training Centre (AITC), a purpose-built training facility located at Kangan Batman TAFE’s Broadmeadows Campus.
In February 2003, Kangan Batman TAFE exhibited the flight simulator at the Avalon International Airshow where the software was projected onto a 1.8m screen and people were invited to take a ‘flight’ with one of Kangan Batman TAFE’s qualified instructors.
