Recommended configuration and equipment for flight school

[mirkoni]

Dear community,

We are a flight school that wants to put more emphasis on practical pilot’s knowledge (with “demonstrate” as one of the keywords, FMS/Autopilot/ECAM basic skills, flight control laws etc.) during theoretical instruction for ATPL.

As VPT and VFD are too expensive for our budget, I am considering an idea to include Prepar3D into our integrated theory training for ATPL level.

So during the course and on final theoretical exam, our students should have the ability to “demonstrate” or “show” on a computer practical exercises:

- Management of Flight Path skills (FMS initialization, cross check data inputted into FMS and correct errors)
- Control a simulated aircraft’s vertical and horizontal flight using automation
- Demonstrate mode awareness of autoflight (engagement, transitions, mode reversion)
- Selection of appropriate displays, range and information on navigation display
- Understanding EICAS and ECAM
- General preparation of an aircraft for flight, including FMS initialization
- KSA and TEM during taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent
- Upset Prevention and Recovery Training

Segments of our theoretical lectures (in AGK, Instruments, Navigation) would end with practical exercises on Prepar3D in the classroom, which I think would be a great way to apply knowledge and prepare for final exam.

Our preferred type for this training is Airbus A320.

Here are my questions regarding hardware, having in mind that we want to establish a small "quazi-simulator" to be used for students' exercises (trainer if you will):

1) Please give me some advice on recommended PC configuration for this purpose (for smooth graphics and fast response)?

2) Is it OK to use laptop for this purpose? Or desktop machine is more suitable (lower cost, ease of replacing the parts - improving RAM and Graphics Card in the future, less heating etc.)

3)What would be the best flight controls equipment to use - is there a joystick with A320 "sidestick" look & feel ? What pedals should we use? Is there a separately sold MCP/FMC hardware that could integrate with P3D?

4)Is it realistic to have three touchscreens to use with P3D, where students could touch the controls (would like to have overhead panel shown separately, main instrument panel, and FMS for example), what would be the best sizes/models of monitors for this purpose, any experience with using touchscreen with P3D? What graphics card should we use having in mind that we would have, say, three output screens and project to projector in the same time?

Thank you in advance,

Mirko Novaković
CTKI – Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor
Flight school from Europe

[Beau Hollis]

1) Most high end gaming hardware should be fine. Complex aircraft like the A320 are often CPU heavy, so make sure to get a fast CPU. Loading and scenery paging times are limited by hard drive access time, so we recommend solid state drives. The GPU you need really depends on graphics settings and resolution you want to run. I would recommend a card with 4GB or more of video ram. If you're going to drive a lot of displays, you may want to use more than one GPU.

2) Prepar3D is definitely trained on laptops, and it runs pretty well on gaming laptops with a discrete video card. On lower settings, it can be used on laptops without a discrete GPU like the surface pro. Desktop pc hardware is going to give you the best bang for your buck and allow for upgrades. Also, many laptops do not support multi monitor configurations. You can still build your content and scenarios to be laptop-friendly, and supplement your larger training systems with laptops, or provide content to your students for use on their own laptops.

3) This isn't my area of expertise so I'll let someone else chime in.

4) You can use multiple touch displays. The MFTA case study is a good example of this.
https://orlvlsrv1.orl.lmco.com/trac/Pre ... icket/8664
We recommend Windows 10 for that use case as the OS has support for multiple touch displays built in. Using flash or xml based 2D panels on your touch screens can be a good way to get more mileage out of a single machine.

[mcdonar]

Hi Mirko,
Are you creating a real-world training environment or a VATSIM-based one?
Cheers, Richard

[Saul]

Laptops are ok for student use but for a A320 school I doubt it would be of much use except for a networked Instructors panel.

Have you researched the hardware needed to reproduce FMS?

Most of the high end A320 simulators use a modified Thrustmaster Hotas which can be purchased from those companies producing them. Pedals, main, pedestal and overhead panels they are available to make a complete cockpit. You can buy individual parts or complete systems from varied suppliers.

For multi channel you'll do better with"P3D Pro plus" because there you can network multiple computers for all your display needs.