1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,800 Hello, I'm Brandon Martini, a commercial pilot and flight instructor. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,320 And I'm Carson Vasquez. 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:11,600 I'm a private pilot. 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,040 And you're listening to the aviation mentors podcast sponsored by Stratis Financial. 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:21,440 So buckle up because the aviation mentors are taking off. 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,240 Today we're talking about something that's becoming more and more prevalent in flight 7 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:25,480 training today. 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:26,560 And what is that? 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:27,560 You may ask. 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,680 It is a flight simulator. 11 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,880 Simulators come in many shapes and sizes and everything from kind of desktop, Microsoft 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:38,240 flight sim to full motion simulators used to train airline pilots. 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,480 I've flown quite a few different simulators in my lifetime so far. 14 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,240 Actually, I have my logbook right here. 15 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:49,040 I only have 16.3 hours actually logged in a flight simulator. 16 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,440 And 10 of that was during my ATP CTP course. 17 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:57,160 So before that, I only had 6.3 hours logged in a flight simulator actually. 18 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,720 So I have flown a whole bunch of them, logged and unlogged, obviously. 19 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:03,360 So we're going to talk about all sorts of things today. 20 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:04,600 I'm really excited about this episode. 21 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:10,120 You know, I have pretty easy access to a flight simulator to Redbird SD, pretty good simulator, 22 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,800 but I don't think I've logged any time in one. 23 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,280 I think I've only used it to mess around and fly in. 24 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:16,280 Yeah. 25 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,600 And always, it's always good to go to the San Diego, not really an airport, but you 26 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:21,760 get to land on the aircraft carrier. 27 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,480 I mean, it's the only place you can land a 172 on the aircraft carrier. 28 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,440 And that is in Microsoft or sorry, Redbird flight simulator. 29 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:28,440 So that's kind of cool. 30 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:29,440 It was fun. 31 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,040 The first time that Brandon and I messed around a simulator, we did a landing competition 32 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:34,960 on that on the aircraft carrier. 33 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:36,400 So that was pretty fun. 34 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:38,800 And believe it or not, Carson beat me on that one. 35 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:39,800 I was really surprised. 36 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,920 I was like, there's no way he's going to beat me. 37 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:43,480 He actually beat me. 38 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,980 And the first time I had my son Austin fly in and he was like nine years old or something, 39 00:01:47,980 --> 00:01:50,720 he landed on the aircraft carrier his first time. 40 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,000 I was actually pretty impressed. 41 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,320 And if you guys haven't seen this before, I highly recommend probably looking up on 42 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:57,320 Google or something. 43 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,320 Or if you're at a flight school, they have a they have a sim you can use. 44 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,360 Go land on the flight simulator or go land on the aircraft carrier. 45 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:04,360 It's really, really neat. 46 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:05,360 Yeah. 47 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:06,360 You know, flight simulators, you can mess around quite a bit. 48 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,400 I think I was actually able to put that thing up on the moon. 49 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,800 I set the altitude like thousands and thousands of feet. 50 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:13,800 That was crazy. 51 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,960 But simulators, you know, aside from messed around with, they're actually super useful 52 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:18,960 for flight training. 53 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,480 And I've seen them used kind of for two primary reasons, three, if you count messing around 54 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:24,480 with them. 55 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,560 So the first one is explaining new concepts to pilots. 56 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,440 So that can be anything from explaining the controls to a brand new student pilot or explain 57 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:37,320 a maneuver to one who's a little more advanced in their training or even using it for commercial 58 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,840 going over everything from a shandel to power off one eighty. 59 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:42,840 All can be done in the simulator. 60 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,400 And I've also seen them used a lot for instrument training and for the currency requirements 61 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,000 for keeping your instrument rating. 62 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,520 Simulators are also typically much cheaper than renting an airplane. 63 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,280 So they're certainly a cost effective method for flight training. 64 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,280 So Brandon, do you think that simulators are pretty valuable in the training environment? 65 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,000 What's your opinion on them? 66 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,160 So I'm going to start off with about three or four years ago, I thought that I'm going 67 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,600 to start off with kind of the one that you can use at home, like Microsoft Flight Sim 68 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,480 or X plane or something like that, one that you can just put on your desktop computer 69 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,920 or play on your Xbox or whatever it may be. 70 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,660 And I used to think that people that use those wasted their time and it didn't really do 71 00:03:20,660 --> 00:03:22,240 anything for flight training. 72 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,360 And I just did not think that they were valuable whatsoever. 73 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,340 But over the years, I've decided that they are invaluable. 74 00:03:29,340 --> 00:03:30,340 They are so valuable. 75 00:03:30,340 --> 00:03:31,880 It's ridiculous. 76 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:37,760 Every kid who's come in here and I call them a kid because 14, 15, 16, even 18 years old, 77 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,680 they come in here and they're like, oh, I've been using Microsoft Flight Sim since I was 78 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,080 I was very young, like five or eight years old or something. 79 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:50,360 Every single one of those kids knows exactly where to look in an airplane on a six pack 80 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,440 and they actually know how to fly the airplane. 81 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,880 I once did a demo flight with a kid. 82 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,420 He was 17 or 18 years old and he was able to take off. 83 00:03:59,420 --> 00:04:01,460 He was able to fly the proper airspeed. 84 00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:07,800 He was able to do maneuvers all pretty much to standards almost on his like on his first 85 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:08,800 flight. 86 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:10,920 I said, you're like a child prodigy. 87 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,560 I want to train you. 88 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:13,560 I don't even care. 89 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,680 I might give you a scholarship because I want to train you so bad because I think that you 90 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,120 might be the kid who gets their their certificate at 40 on the dot. 91 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,320 Like exactly. 92 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,600 And that's what logging every single hour. 93 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,560 And he unfortunately he said, oh, I'm going to college. 94 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,880 And he was going to a university program and he was going to get his pilot certificate 95 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:32,880 there. 96 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,920 So I didn't get to train him, but I did get to go on that demo flight with him, which 97 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:36,920 was kind of the highlight. 98 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:38,000 And it really opened my eyes. 99 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,560 And then every time I ever did a demo flight or flight with a young person, I asked if 100 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,760 they've ever flown in a Microsoft flight simulator or something, because it really changes, changes 101 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:48,760 the perspective. 102 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:49,760 They know where to look. 103 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:51,120 They know to do lots of things. 104 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,720 So if you're young and you're thinking about getting into aviation, go get a flight simulator 105 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,880 at home and ask for it for Christmas, your birthday or something. 106 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,720 Now back to Carson's kind of real meat and potatoes part of this question. 107 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,320 And that is, do I think they're valuable for a training environment? 108 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,760 With all that being said, any simulator is valuable in the training environment. 109 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,360 If you do the simulator at home without instruction, you are going to learn a few bad habits that 110 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,160 are harder to break. 111 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:20,840 But I think the positives way outweigh the negatives in that now using them in a training 112 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:21,840 environment. 113 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,000 Yes, they're very valuable. 114 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,080 There's multiple reasons why airlines actually use simulators. 115 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:29,080 I don't know. 116 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,080 Some of you might not know, but the first time you fly a Boeing 737 with passengers 117 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,760 in the back is the first time you're flying an actual Boeing 737. 118 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,720 It's the first time you've got like a check airman. 119 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,720 Then you've got your captain or your captain might be the check airman. 120 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,960 You basically have another pilot in there watching you kind of like a DP. 121 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,320 But regardless, they use them because they're one, cost effective. 122 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,840 It's a lot cheaper to train somebody in a simulator than burning a ton of gas. 123 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:57,840 And they also use them because you get a lot of valuable experience from a simulator and 124 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:01,720 you can train for situations that are abnormal. 125 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,960 Landing on an aircraft carrier for one, that's very abnormal. 126 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,720 But you can also train, well, what would happen if you lost both of your engines at this out 127 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,920 at 150 feet right after you take off? 128 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,840 Well, it's a lot safer to do that in a simulator and you can land in a field on a simulator 129 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,120 rather than actually doing it in real life. 130 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:23,160 So there's lots of things you can practice, especially emergencies on a simulator. 131 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,960 So I think they're really, really valuable for a training environment. 132 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:31,320 And if you fly an older airplane or an airplane that doesn't have a GPS on it, you can practice 133 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,960 using a GPS on a simulator. 134 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,760 There's so many different things you can use a simulator for. 135 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:38,840 It's insane. 136 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,360 So I used to think that simulators were a waste of time. 137 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,720 You might as well just do ground and then get up in the airplane and feel the airplane. 138 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,500 And then I realized I was totally wrong many years ago. 139 00:06:48,500 --> 00:06:53,120 And I think, I don't know if any of you have ever seen that infographic that says the 100 140 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:54,800 hour expert pilot. 141 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,120 And basically you start off knowing nothing. 142 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,080 Once you get to 100 hours, you feel like you're an expert. 143 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,160 And then once you get to like 2000 hours, you feel like you know absolutely nothing 144 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,160 again. 145 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,680 And it's because you've learned so many valuable lessons along the way. 146 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,440 And I actually think that's kind of true on maybe a flight instructor's perspective too. 147 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,360 Like you think you know so much about flight training in your first 50 or 100 hours. 148 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,280 And then when you get closer to 500 or 1000, you're starting to feel like, oh, wow, maybe 149 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,200 I didn't know as much as I once did. 150 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:22,880 I'm still learning. 151 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:28,360 And I think that's kind of what happened to me on the use of flight simulators. 152 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:34,200 And for those of you who don't use them currently, I highly suggest you use them. 153 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:35,200 Integrate them into your flight training. 154 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,200 Yes, I know you're not going to get your valuable flight time to go to an airline as quick. 155 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:45,720 But you're really doing your student a great service by showing them how to save some money. 156 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:46,720 And you know what? 157 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,320 It might be part of your syllabus to use as well. 158 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:50,440 I know the syllabus I've used. 159 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,600 I've used GLIMB for a long time. 160 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,320 And it's always valuable to use that. 161 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,400 It saves money and it saves time. 162 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:02,440 And when it's really cloudy or rainy or icy outside, you can always use that simulator 163 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:03,720 and you can still get that time. 164 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,640 And if you're a flight instructor, you can even make some money that way, too. 165 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,160 So there's always some benefits there. 166 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:09,400 Yeah, I absolutely agree. 167 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:14,320 Using simulators, it's crazy the amount of things that you can go and just hop in a simulator 168 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:15,320 and do. 169 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:16,320 You can turn the weather cloudy. 170 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:17,400 You can add more weight. 171 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:18,400 You can add more drag. 172 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,480 You can add crazy winds and practice crosswind landings from the comfort of your own home 173 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,120 even. 174 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,220 It's pretty crazy to be able to just hop in and go and do this. 175 00:08:27,220 --> 00:08:32,080 It's super useful because when you actually have to face these things, it's hard for your 176 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,200 body to do what your mind hasn't. 177 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,320 So you're already thinking about it with the simulator and then you go and actually do 178 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,880 it in real life and your body's already been there. 179 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:42,400 You've already done it in the simulator. 180 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,700 It's closer to second nature than it ever can be. 181 00:08:45,700 --> 00:08:48,000 So it's really phenomenal. 182 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaking of CFIs not reaching their time as quickly, what are the parameters for logging 183 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:54,440 time in a simulator? 184 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:59,680 So if you're a private pilot, you need to log time with a flight instructor. 185 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,560 And if you're part 61 or 141, they're a little bit different. 186 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:08,280 But in general, if you're part 61, you can log up to three hours in a simulator. 187 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,520 But it's got to be with an instructor. 188 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:18,320 And it's got to be in a certain type of simulator, BATD, ATD, or something more advanced than 189 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,200 that for you to be able to log it legally. 190 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,920 You can't log the stuff at home unless you have just a fun log book where you're like, 191 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,280 hey, I did this flight on my simulator. 192 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:28,280 And some people enjoy that. 193 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:29,280 And that's what they do. 194 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:30,760 That wasn't for me. 195 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,760 So I've never done that. 196 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:39,860 But as you can tell by my whole 16.3 hours logged in my flight simulator, I don't actually 197 00:09:39,860 --> 00:09:43,320 count all the time that I've given dual instruction in a simulator. 198 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,480 That's probably another 150, 200 hours or something. 199 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,080 And we normally do those shorter. 200 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,680 But so the parameter for private, you have to do it with a flight instructor. 201 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:55,960 Same thing with instrument rating. 202 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:02,240 But when you want to stay current for your instrument rating, in 2018, I believe it is, 203 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,880 they issued a new a new ruling. 204 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,040 Actually they said it was going to come out in 2016. 205 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,120 And it finally came out in 2018 was the final ruling from the FAA. 206 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,420 But you can actually do six instrument approaches, holding procedures and task and intercepting 207 00:10:17,420 --> 00:10:21,680 and tracking courses through use of navigation electronic systems, which by the way, those 208 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:25,720 are the requirements to take care of every six months to maintain currency, which we've 209 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,240 all talked about currency and proficiency. 210 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,000 By no means this does not mean you're proficient, but it means you're current and technically 211 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,680 legal to go fly an IFR and instrument approach. 212 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:41,080 So you can actually go do those three things in a simulator now as long as you do them 213 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,520 within six months. 214 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:48,160 The best part about that new ruling when it came out was it actually changed, it changed 215 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,000 the rules. 216 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,600 So you didn't actually have to do those with a CFII. 217 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,160 You could actually do them by yourself. 218 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:00,200 So you can go in the simulator and you can just go do those maneuvers and those approaches 219 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,280 all by yourself and log it in your log book. 220 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:08,400 And it counted as time and not very much time and only counted as total time. 221 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,400 But but it did count as your currency. 222 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,400 So that saves people a whole lot of money for you to go do six approaches. 223 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,720 That's probably going to take anywhere from two to three hours, depending on your your 224 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:20,800 airport environment you're in. 225 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:26,400 I know that I can do three or four in maybe an hour and a half usually in Southern California. 226 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,960 So really depending on how much traffic there is and if you're flying in actual or not, 227 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:32,840 things like that, you can save a ton of money. 228 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,160 You can save a ton of time. 229 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,840 I mean, both of those things are really valuable. 230 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,400 So that's those are some things you can do in a flight simulator. 231 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,800 And also, if you're if you're getting your a different rating or something, you can definitely 232 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:47,200 practice some of those maneuvers. 233 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:53,040 I know that I've practiced a lot of maneuvers and I can log some of that time in a one forty 234 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:54,040 one environment. 235 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,180 They actually allow you to log a certain amount of time with a flight instructor. 236 00:11:58,180 --> 00:12:03,280 So you just need to kind of look at the regulations and which exact rating you're working on to 237 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,120 see how much time you can actually log in a simulator and whether or not you have to 238 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:07,760 have a flight instructor or not. 239 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,600 But by far the most cool thing is you can do those. 240 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,160 They call them six hits. 241 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,960 You can do those six hits all by yourself in a simulator, which is phenomenal. 242 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,000 And does it matter what kind of simulator using? 243 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,680 Obviously, like you said, you can't use it at your your just at home simulator on Microsoft 244 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:24,680 SIM. 245 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:28,880 They also mentioned ATDs or advanced aviation train devices. 246 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,840 There's also BATDs or basic aviation train devices. 247 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:38,080 And there's also, of course, the one that we're probably not going to see is the FFS, 248 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,680 the full flight simulator, which is those full motion ones, the super cool ones that 249 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:44,560 the airline pilots get to use and brands gotten a fly. 250 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:46,960 So what are the differences between these ones? 251 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,000 Yeah, absolutely. 252 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,000 So like you said, there are several different ones. 253 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:56,480 There's home SIMs, ATDs, BATDs, FFS and FTDs. 254 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,520 Like all the acronyms we always have in aviation. 255 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,160 I think we should probably do another acronym episode at some point because we did one of 256 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,400 those, I think, five or six months ago now. 257 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,920 And we barely even scratched the surface on acronyms. 258 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,840 And it actually happened to be a pretty pretty good episode. 259 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,240 A lot of people download it. 260 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,440 So I'm assuming some people liked it, especially new flight students. 261 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:22,200 But let's get into all these crazy different acronyms for flight simulator. 262 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,580 So an FFS is a full flight simulator. 263 00:13:26,580 --> 00:13:29,720 And those are typically used at airlines. 264 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:34,280 So they have levels A through D, level D is the most sophisticated. 265 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,320 And they also have the FTDs, which go up to different levels. 266 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,800 And I don't know all the different levels, to be honest. 267 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:47,700 But I know that I've flown in a level four for my ATP CTP course. 268 00:13:47,700 --> 00:13:51,760 And then I flew in my FFS, which is the full flight simulator. 269 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:53,520 And that one is full motion. 270 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:54,920 It feels like you're in a real airplane. 271 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,320 I mean, when you slam on the brakes, it like throws you forward. 272 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,640 When you press the thrust reversers, it makes you feel like you're putting thrust reversers 273 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:04,640 on. 274 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,140 It's really, really interesting. 275 00:14:06,140 --> 00:14:12,720 And like I said, those are sub sub categorized levels A through D. And level D is what I 276 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:13,720 used. 277 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:18,600 I think I flew in a 321 level D simulator is what I actually got to fly, which was totally 278 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,320 an amazing experience. 279 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,960 I wish we had the podcast then so I could have talked about it when it was fresh on 280 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:24,960 my mind. 281 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,520 If anybody listening to the podcast just went through a CTP course and you want to talk 282 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,120 about that experience, please reach out to us. 283 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,120 We'd love to have you on. 284 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:38,040 And another really cool thing about the FFS, you can actually get a type rating in it. 285 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,400 So you can actually earn a type rating without ever flying the actual aircraft. 286 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:46,000 Just like I was telling you a second ago or a few minutes ago, you the first time you 287 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,560 fly a 737 is with passengers in it. 288 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:50,560 You're flying this FFS before. 289 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,560 So but there's other other flight training devices that are kind of more commonly used 290 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:59,360 in flight training, the BATD and the AATD. 291 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:05,560 And the simulator that Carson was talking about is the AATD, which is the Redbird simulator. 292 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,600 And with the Redbirds and actually Redbird also makes a BATD along with a lot of other 293 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:15,620 people they make BATDs, a basic flight training device essentially. 294 00:15:15,620 --> 00:15:17,960 But the ATD is a advanced one. 295 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,000 And it's not that much more advanced to be honest. 296 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,600 I've actually seen BATDs that are probably better than the ATDs. 297 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,760 But it's just the way they've been certified in their capabilities. 298 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:35,320 So the FAA makes sure that that certain simulators are certified and they've got different hierarchy 299 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,000 of certifications. 300 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,840 And some of them get the basic certification, some of them get the advanced certification. 301 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:47,000 But regardless, if you want to use a flight simulator into training, you actually have 302 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,340 to fly in an approved simulator. 303 00:15:49,340 --> 00:15:55,760 Now if you go buy a Redbird SD for $75,000 or whatever they cost new now, you can't just 304 00:15:55,760 --> 00:16:00,600 jump in and start learning to fly simulator in and logging it in your book. 305 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:01,960 That's not allowed. 306 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,400 Some people think you can, but you cannot. 307 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:09,160 You actually have to have a FAA letter of authorization or a LOA. 308 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,260 And that has to be received from the FISDO. 309 00:16:11,260 --> 00:16:17,500 So they'll come out and they'll inspect it for part 61 or part 141 training, regardless 310 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,160 that needs a LOA. 311 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:26,800 And if it's for 141 training, it has to have a kind of master LOA that's been given by 312 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,140 the FAA when they certified it. 313 00:16:30,140 --> 00:16:31,680 So you need a couple things. 314 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,040 You need authorization from the FAA for it to be a simulator. 315 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,780 And then you also need authorization from the FAA to use it and make sure it's set up 316 00:16:39,780 --> 00:16:43,280 and being used properly and all the buttons and stuff work. 317 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,400 So those are some different things that you need to be able to use a flight simulator. 318 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,600 I think it's kind of crazy that the FAA doesn't just certify the device from Redbird. 319 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,600 They certify your device. 320 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,640 So after it's set up and built and wherever you're training, they come out and do that. 321 00:16:58,640 --> 00:16:59,640 Kind of. 322 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:01,480 So they do both. 323 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:06,300 They give a blanket certification on the entire Redbird SD that they give for all the models 324 00:17:06,300 --> 00:17:08,280 as long as they're identical. 325 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:12,740 And then they also give a specific certification from the FISDO. 326 00:17:12,740 --> 00:17:14,600 So just in case it wasn't very clear on that. 327 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:20,240 So there are two certifications, one on the entire product and then one on your specific 328 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,120 one serial number specific. 329 00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:23,120 Yeah. 330 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:24,120 Thanks, Brandon. 331 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:28,240 You know, simulators can be a very effective tool to benefit your flight training experience. 332 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:33,800 And we all know aviation can be very, very expensive times, but simulators can typically 333 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,480 cut the cost quite a bit. 334 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,200 And not saying that fly a simulator at home will give you all the knowledge you need to 335 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,200 fly an airplane. 336 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,400 But like Brandon said, I've seen people take demo flights after hundreds or thousands of 337 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,960 hours on Microsoft SIM and fly it pretty well. 338 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:52,960 So imagine what a real flight training in an FAS certified simulator can do for your 339 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:53,960 training. 340 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:54,960 Yeah, it's going to do a whole lot. 341 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,480 So go do it. 342 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:57,520 Practice at home. 343 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,840 Go practice in the flight simulator at your local school. 344 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,200 And if you're instrument rated, next time go do your currency in that. 345 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,520 Obviously, it's more fun to go outside and go play in the clouds. 346 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,200 But if you can't go do that and you want to save some money and time, go into your local 347 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,880 flight school and go to Ulysses or SIM. 348 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,080 Thank you guys so much for listening today. 349 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,040 If you'd like to reach out to either one of us, you can always reach us at Twitter, Instagram 350 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,920 at MrMartiniGuy or at Carson underscore AV17. 351 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,600 Or of course, where we prefer our emails, Brandon at aviationmentors.com or Carson at 352 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:28,600 aviationmentors.com. 353 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,400 And as a wrap up for the day, remember, we're here to guide you in your aviation journey. 354 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:44,080 So fly safe and enjoy the ride.