Forest Service Simulator Preps Flying Firefighters For Cobra
Dennis Brown thunders through blinding smoke over the Bay Area in an Army Cobra gunship attack helicopter, the first just converted to battle wildfires. Using the Cobra's high-tech gear, a U.S. Forest Service aviator sees the raging flames of blazes to come with the official statewide fire-season declaration Monday. He radios data from smoke-piercing infrared gear to tankers and helicopters, ready for drops to save homes. It all looks real — but the Cobra is parked outside. Brown's playing one of several roles in a huge, complex government video game of sorts, which wasunveiled Friday.
posted by Mike at 11:10 AM
1 Comments:
Helicopter simulators continue to save government and city municipalities millions of dollars over actual flying. Heck, average cost per hour of a helicopter is around $550 an hour while a simulator has the upfront cost and very cheap long term costs.
Any pilot prepping for service in today's world (including charter flights) spends the majority of their time training in simulators. Smart decision and I know simulators are doing a good job of getting more accurate to the real world environment except in one case..... motion sickness. I just had a friend get kicked out of the pilot's training course because he threw up 17 times in 20 flights.
You live and learn.
Jason
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