What am I Doing DUBAI? Starting My New Job as a Simulator Instructor – What It’s Really Like

Hello aviators, how are you today? My name is Magnar Nordal. I'm a retired ATR captain and instructor. Thank you to all of you for all the best wishes for my retirement. But I have to specify one thing. I only retired as a captain. I'm still an instructor. I just relocated. So, welcome to Dubai. I am now with Ansett Aviation Training, and I am hired as a chief flight instructor. That means I'm responsible for the training of the ATR aircraft. Ansett Aviation Training is headquartered in Australia, where they have three training centers. They also have a training center in Taiwan, one in Italy, and here in Dubai. And we are a part of the ATO in Milan in Italy. We have two simulators; an ATR 72-600, and an Airbus 320. So, our simulators are EASA-approved, and so are our instructors. I will just show you a little around. We share facilities with Dynamic Advanced Training, which do mostly cabin crew training. They have four simulators. Three of them are full-flight cabin simulators, and they cover Airbus 320, and Boing 737; both in one unit. Then the wide-body: Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 in another unit. And we have one business jet which resembles Gulfstream, Bombardier, Falcon Jet, etc. They have all the emergency exits required. So they provide a total package for cabin crew training, including service and emergency training. I will come back to them later on because they have a lot of interesting things. But first of all, we have the ATR. Welcome to the ATR simulator. This is an ATR 72-600. The software is 3. 1 with all the updates. And as you can see, this is a 100% correct cockpit from an ATR. Exactly what you expect to see in the aircraft. All buttons, dials, indications are all the same. That said, since it's a simulator, you don't get the exact same feeling as flying the real aircraft. It's very close, but there are computers calculating every input you do on the controls, and there's a split-second delay in the reaction from the aircraft. So, when you're not familiar with a simulator, you will easily overcorrect. For example, during takeoff, you use a bit too much rudder for direction control, and you put it too long because you're waiting for the reaction, and then already you are on the way out of the center line. So the trick is to make small tiny adjustments at the time and push and wait, and see how it works. It flies beautifully, and the models are also very nice. Even generic airports are very nice modeled, and we have all the terrain you expect to see; mountains, lakes, etc. In addition to the cockpit which is 100% identical, we have something more in the simulator. We have an instructor station where instructor can insert the aircraft data, the weight, the fuel, center of gravity, open and close doors, your communication. The instructor can be cabin crew calling the cockpit, air traffic control. And there also seats for observers; one full seat, and one fold-down seat in the aft. So in total, there can be five people in this simulator. One thing that is a little different from the real aircraft is that the wall, the cabinet behind the first officer, can be pulled away, so it's more easily accessible. And this panel has

a lot of circuit breaker panels. So, when we have training where they play a part of the procedure, we will move that cabinet into position. The visual system is the most advanced part of the simulator, in fact. Because regarding of which seat you're seated, you see exact the same. There are a lot of fine lenses involved. So when you look from one side to the other, you will see exact same. Also, we can put in all kinds of weather, from dense fog, day, night, thunderstorms. Yeah, you name it, we have it all. And then we have the motion. And the motion is six-axis. It moves all around. To simulate acceleration, it tilts the nose up so you get pushed back in the seat. And the same for braking; then you will tilt nose down. And of course, this doesn't happen in the aircraft. But the sensation with the balance organ is the same. It can be a little confusing when you taxi and make turns because the simulator cannot make turns like the aircraft do. So then it tilts a little bit, and that can be a bit strange for the balance organ. In later videos, I will come back to the simulator and the controls we have in the ATR, the indications. I can also film what happens when we have this and this failure. That could be very nice to see how, what indications do we have in the cockpit, and then explain what it means. I think that's all for this time. Thank you for watching. Have a wonderful day, and happy landing.