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I think the MD-88 class from flight safety cost $25,000.

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
news:z0KK8.99713$%y.10456904@bin4.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com...
> I vaguely understand the process of getting a license to actually pilot a
> real aircraft, but I was wondering: How hard would it be, and how much
> would it cost, to learn to pilot just a simulator? Im not talking about
> Microsoft Flight Simulator, of course, but about real, full-motion,
> multi-megabuck simulators of the type that are certified by the FAA and
used
> for legitimate flight training (i.e., training that counts for the FAA).
>
> My reasoning is this: Becoming a real pilot takes a long time, and costs
a
> lot of money, and requires passing a fancy physical regularly.
> Additionally, becoming a pilot of a multi-engine commercial jet aircraft
> takes an order of magnitude longer and requires that much more money. But
I
> just like to fly around in my PC simulator ... so if I wanted to extend
the
> simulator experience so that its "just as good" as flying a real 747 or
> whatever without the need for an actual pilots license, the obvious
> solution would be a top-of-the-line full-motion simulator for the aircraft
> of my choice. So ... how hard would it be to learn to "fly" such a
> simulator, and how much would it cost, and how available would such an
> option be?
>
> Given that only large companies like airlines seem to have fancy 737 or
> Airbus simulators, and given that they use them mainly for training and
> maintaining their own pilots, I suppose their simulators are pretty
heavily
> booked. Even so, rumor has it that some of these simulators are idle at 3
> AM or at other inconvenient times, and since they still cost money, it
seems
> that selling time on them would be a quick and welcome source of revenue.
> So does anyone do this? Do they sell time to non-pilots, or do they
impose
> all sorts of weird requirements? Or are they simply so heavily booked on
> these simulators that there isnt any spare time for non-pilots at all?
>
> The way I see it, this sort of "flying" could be a legitimate end in
itself,
> for people who, like me, cannot or prefer not to pursue an actual license.
> Certainly it would be practical for people who want to fly an A320 or a
> DC-10, since the alterative of becoming a real commercial pilot is
> hopelessly impractical for anyone not wanting to undertake a full-time
> career of piloting such aircraft. There seems to be little risk to it,
> although I suppose some really fool movements in a simulator would make
for
> a rough ride--simulators dont crash and burn, though, and thats the best
> part.
>
> In fact, Im sort of surprised that nobody actually does this (as far as I
> know) yet; I mean, someone could buy such a simulator and sell time on it
to
> anyone for some exorbitant fee, rather like companies that let you drive a
> race car (or something close to it) for a high fee, and so on. Maybe its
> still too difficult to reach the necessary price point. Certainly
computing
> power is cheap and that part of the simulation can be done at very low
cost
> (even MS Flight Simulator handles the number crunching easily), but the
> full-motion part, and the cockpit physical simulation (levers, yokes,
etc.)
> probably still costs a bundle. And obviously, in order to be truly fun,
it
> _would_ have to be a truly accurate simulator, not just a souped up
version
> of MSFS with a $200 yoke or something.
>
> Any comments or thoughts? I cant be the only one who has ever had this
> idea.
>
>

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