Whist the majority of my simulator experience has entailed flying fixed base simulators, I have been very fortunate to have flown several full motion ‘Level D’ simulators that are used by the airlines. I have to say the acceleration you experience when starting off down the runway and during rotation when taking off and the deceleration when braking during landing is incredible and as mentioned earlier is achieved by some clever trickery in terms of moving the simulator forward and aft about the pitch axis – even though the image in front of the pilot’s eyes is (or should be!) level.
The platform movement about both pitch and roll axies is certainly noticeable, but in the context of normal airline route flying (I’m assuming you wouldn’t be performing aerobatics at this stage!), the sensation/movements aren’t that dramatic, just in the same way it isn’t when you fly as a passenger on a real airliner.
The main advantage, as I see it, of full motion is in weather conditions such as turbulence in cloud or on a windy day, where you really can be thrown around a bit in your seat as the full motion system simulates that. It can be quite dramatic and very realistic.
A further benefit of full motion simulation is you get a very accurate portrayal of your landings. In a fixed base simulator, it is often difficult to tell whether you have perfected a good landing technique with a good flare and touchdown or it whether it was more on the firm side of where we’d like to be. It is possible to install software in a simulator which measures and assesses the landing phase in its entirety, but it is still difficult to really get an appreciation of landing performance. In a full motion simulator there is absolutely no doubt at all as to the success of the manoeuvre as it is very easy to feel whether you had a good landing, or perhaps flared too little and too late and hit the runway with a almighty thump – it happens to the best of us!
One reply on “Fixed Base vs Full Motion Simulators”
Thank you for your blog. It was very helpful and allowed me to make a decision as to a simulator experience. I will be doing an experience with https://www.fullmotionexperience.com at the end of May!