Sun, Mar 08, 2009
Complex Aircraft Endorsement... In Fixed-Gear Aircraft
On March 1, 2009, pilot Jeff Clark
of Troy, MI obtained a Complex Aircraft Endorsement. Not unusual,
you say? But he did it in his fixed gear Piper Dakota, using a
landing gear simulator developed by CFI Gregg Stockman.
By using a Piper Arrow checklist, Jeff learned all the
operations associated with a retractable gear airplane, including
successfully resolving nine different gear malfunctions presented
by the gear simulator. This involved recycling circuit breakers,
replacing landing gear indictor bulbs, and even executing an
emergency gear extension procedure.
Many of the gear malfunctions could not have been safely
duplicated in an actual retractable gear aircraft, nor could the
stress of flight operations be fully duplicated in a ground based
simulator. This training and endorsement were made possible by the
simulator and an exemption to FAR 61.31(e) that Stockman recently
received from the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to the abstract filed with the US Patent Office, the
self-contained device can be installed into fixed landing gear
aircraft to be used during takeoff and landing. Alternatively, the
device can be used during classroom and ground school training. A
switch box control panel simulates the landing gear controls and
indicators of retractable gear aircraft. A logic circuit and
program simulate landing gear operation, in “simulator”
mode, and common landing gear errors of retractable gear aircraft
in “trainer” mode.
In “trainer” mode, the program and circuit also
randomly alert the pilot to common landing gear errors and evaluate
the pilot's corrective control input, outputting an error
indication if the pilot's response is incorrect. The device's
capabilities to accept flight control inputs and to emulate
characteristics of specific retractable gear aircraft increase the
realism of the simulation and training.
For more information on the portable landing gear simulator
developed by Gregg, contact him at N15997@gmail.com.
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