This outstanding training device is an integral part of our instrument rating, flight training program. In fact, the availability of this new technology was the primary motivator for starting the school in 1980.

If not taught properly, instrument flying is very demanding and often frustrating. That situation is completely avoidable if a student's mental and physical habit patterns become habitual, but that takes time and requires considerable repetition. The simulator allows that to occur with high efficiency. For example, instrument-approach training in an airplane will require at least one hour to takeoff, fly three or four approaches, and land; in the simulator ten to fifteen approaches can be flown in one hour. Compared to airplane training, time and cost are greatly reduced.

The term flight simulator refers to FAA approved devices that have full motion (actual movement) and duplicate exactly a specific airplane's cockpit and performance. These multi-million dollar simulators are used for corporate, military, and airline training. OCFC's device is an FAA approved advanced flight training device (FTD). It does not move, but it represents the cockpit and performance of a specific class of airplanes to include their aerodynamic responses, which is ideal for general aviation training.