If you got a chain to yank not many pilots are going to want to show you their simulator!

 

All of your minds are in the gutter. I'm not even going to ask Slice what "stick time" is...

 

LOL! Didn't some one tell me that "yanking the chain" makes the bells ring?

 

Don't worry about that, but be alarmed when he says he wants to practice a "backcourse" localizer approach!

 

You know, stick time, it when you...

 

I have seen all 3 of them. The maintenance base is alright. The first time I toured it was when I was 3 years old, and it is probably one of the reasons why I want a career in aviation. Seeing superbay with a giant DC-10 undergoing maintenance was quite a site. Maintenance base is decent.

I have been in the corporate headquarters (never toured it), but it is not much different than any other corporate building.


But by far, DenTK is the most awesome!!! It is the most advanced flight training center on the face of the earth. It is also the largest. The simulators are amazing to see from the outside. The 747-400 simulator cost $14 million dollars, and that was in 1990! They are suspended on giant hydraulic motion systems. It has a 6 axis motion system that can truly recreate the sensation of flight. On the inside, every part is the same as used on the actual airplane.

I was lucky enough to fly one of these simulators for a few hours, and let me tell you it was the most amazing experience of my life. It seems like there is no difference between these things and actually going up and flying. They are so realistic!

It is also quite a testiment to how advanced the training is at United, and how advanced all their airplanes are. The autopilot systems are quite amazing. All airplanes are equiped with autoland. I did a few landings using the auto-throttle, and it is downright amazing how easy it is to fly these jets with an autothrottle and autobrakes. Just set speed to 165kts, and all you have to do is adjust the pitch of the airplane, flare, and let the autobrakes stop you. In my honest opinion, landing a 747-400 with autothrottles was easier than landing a cessna-182, and I MEAN IT!!

United does a lot of training for domestic and internation airlines. On a tour, you can see all the banners of the airlines for which they provide training. Also, ask to see the very first flight simulator ever made (in the 1920's). It is pretty amazing how far they have come.


There is an old saying that goes something like "You get what you pay for!"

And I think if you see DenTK, you will know just how prepared pilots are, and how advanced United's aircraft are.
Absolutely amazing. I brought a friend with me when we flew the simulators, and we swear that the trip was worth thousands of dollars!

 

Yeah, but let's see her do it in the real thing, fireman!

 

I'd go with the sim. I have some time in a 717 simulator. That was an amazing experiance. The place where I "flew" (Alteon Training) just got a new 737-800 sim, I'm hoping to fly that sometime soon also

 

Good for her!...

 

Ok, so what is that?..