The official daily newspaper of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

MaxFlight Offers WIld Ride at AirVenture Museum

By Kim Rosenlof, AirVenture Today, July 27, 2001

Air show attendees get strapped in for their MaxFlight ride.

Gazing at all the aircraft that AirVenture has to offer, but have no way to join the multitude in the skies? Want to know what it feels like to fly a military jet? The AirVenture Museum has the answer for you — the MaxFlight FS 2000 flight simulator.

Located in the aerobatic theater of the AirVenture Museum, the two-seat MaxFlight simulator is the latest and perhaps most interactive addition to the museum's collection. After you and a friend are strapped into the military jet simulator, you launch from a carrier deck and perform rolls and loops as you hunt down and destroy various targets. This is not your average flight simulator on your home computer. This full-motion three-axis simulator allows you to actually feel the thrill of aerobatics and dogfight flying, even flying upside down! 

It is great fun, and the three-minute ride is well worth the $5 cost. You can trade off pilot and gunner positions as often as you like by pushing a button. And if for any reason you want to stop the ride, you just need to push another button. Outside the simulator, those waiting in line can see on a television screen the same thing that's on the 58-inch screen inside.

But the designer and company owner, Frank McClintic, has more serious plans for the technology. He hopes to get FAA Class 4 certification for his simulators in a new upset training category. Class 4 certification would allow pilots to receive their type rating by training solely in the simulator, even taking the checkride in the simulator.

"We're just getting started with the FAA certification process but are highly confident that we can get certification within six months," said McClintic. "The software is already certified; now we have to certify the software on our hardware. We've also been meeting with some high level people from NASA who are doing research on the inner ear effects with these simulators."

McClintic, a former military and charter pilot with more than 6,000 hours in various jet, helicopter, and fixed-wing aircraft, has been building full-motion simulators since 1994. His initial intention was to provide full-motion simulators for commercial aircraft upset training, but he turned to the entertainment market when he discovered the expense and paperwork hurdles of certification.

"Over 350 of these simulators are in use worldwide," said McClintic. "The majority are being used in entertainment venues, simulating everything from roller coasters to monster trucks. There are nine in Las Vegas alone."

Some MaxFlight simulators are being used for flight training overseas. McClintic said that the Egyptian air force is currently using the simulator to train their jet pilots, and other foreign air forces have expressed an interest as well. Even military services in the United States are looking at the MaxFlight technology to help train pilots, as is Boeing and other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). 

"The MaxFlight technology allows a 60 percent higher fidelity than any other motion base simulator at a significantly reduced cost," McClintic said. "This could give smaller militaries the opportunity to train their pilots at home, instead of sending them to the U.S. for training."

The rigorous use of the simulator in both the entertainment market and in training pilots overseas gives McClintic and his staff longterm performance data to present to the FAA for the certification process. 

"We've had six years of proving the performance capabilities of this simulator," McClintic said. "They've been operated in the harshest environments and in every electrical configuration."

Other markets that McClintic is eyeing for his simulator include the commercial airline and aerobatic training markets, as well as additional entertainment venues like AirVenture Museum. 

"EAA came to us three years ago and asked if we could bring one of these simulators for the convention," said McClintic. "Due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn't make it until this year, and it has proved to be a popular attraction so far this year. We anticipate generating approximately $11,000 in revenue this week."

The MaxFlight simulator costs $150,000 a unit.

Although the negotiations are not final, the MaxFlight simulator may become a permanent feature of the AirVenture Museum. If that happens, McClintic envisions marrying the MaxFlight technology with sport aerobatic aircraft options.

"Our simulator is currently set up to run any aircraft in the Microsoft Flight Simulator package, from the P-51 Mustang to the Super Chipmunk, but we cannot run it commercially," said McClintic. "We're trying to secure the rights from Microsoft to use their software in our simulator so that the museum-goer could actually select the aircraft they would fly, some of which are hanging right here in the museum!"

McClintic also envisions an aerobatic ride, perhaps featuring a famous aerobatic pilot like Patty Wagstaff. "You could load a film of Patty Wagstaff performing her routine and program the simulator to follow the same motions," said McClintic. "It wouldn't be interactive, but you could actually fly along with Patty on a routine."

Last updated: Friday, September 20, 2002 05:27:51 PM