Our flying club was sent some information about the University of Iowa conducting experiments at the Operator Performance Laboratory at the Iowa City Airport. I already had my name on their list, but I lacked the commercial endorsement that they required. When I saw that they lowered their standards and didn't require a commercial license I sent them another email. I heard back on Saturday that they have accepted me into the program. I look forward to getting some stick time in a real 737 simulator. Hopefully I get some time in the Bonanza sim as well. I am scheduled to start tonight at 5:30 with heart monitor and eye sensor equipment located and attached to my body.

Here is part of the email that was sent to the club members:
The Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) is looking for pilots with an instrument rating and preferably a commercial pilot's license for participation in a commercial flight deck simulator study. The experiment is a simulation of a commercial flight from Seattle to Chicago in a B737 simulator. We are collecting physiological data such as eye tracking, heart rate and EEG from pilots flying an evening flight.

http://www.ccad.uiowa.edu/opl/

John

Enjoy John, if it's an older sim (and I assume it is since government funded) it will probably feel like a handful for the first few hours. Really concentrate on not over correcting. When I went for my 73 type, I found the first flight a little humbling, but it was an old -200.

No doubt, you will have a blast.

Ill offer a bit of advice that may sound a bit strange but I promise it will benefit you greatly before stepping into that sim. If you can, find out what type of sim it is and whether or not it is a glass cockpit or steam gauges. A -200 will be steam, -600 or above will be EFIS, but the -300/-500 can be a mix of both. Anyway, get yourself a later copy of MS Flight Simulator and load up the closest 737 configuration you can find. It does not have to be perfect but some common instruments will help.

Set the airplane up for takeoff with the flaps at 1 or 5. Rotate at about 120 knots and pitch up to about 20 degrees. Get the gear up and hold that attitude until 1000 feet. At that point, pitch down to 10 degrees and get the flaps up. Accelerate to 210 knots and then up to 250 as needed. Spend some time just flying the plane around on a clear day.

After you are comfortable with it, go into the preferences and drop the weather down. This will really sharpen up your scan and get you used to the performance. A little hint that will help greatly with everything but the -200 model is, when you are down at lower altitudes (generally below 15,000 feet) and you want to maintain 250 knots while straight and level, set each engine at 2500 lbs/hr of fuel flow. 210 knots is about 2300 lbs/hr. This will help keep the speeds under control while being vectored for an approach. With flight simulator, you can shoot just about every approach in the US. Enjoy......

Roy,

The plane was modeled with the PMDG 737-700. I have over 800 hours of 737 time with the PMDG series planes. Things worked out good, but there were issues with the hardware and software. I hope that I was able to contribute to their testing. I was there about 5-1/2 hours, but it was time well spent. They also are using an A36 Bonanza for a test bed as well. I am hoping to get to know the guys there a little better and get some real world Bonanza time as well. My CFII is one of their pilots when testing airborne equipment.

Picture of the sim taken from my Android phone:
Facebook Mobile Photos

John