ETC's Brilliant Little Trainer Will Help Retain Students,
Expand Pilots' Experience
Environmental Tectonics Corporation is fixin' to
install a GAT-II® General Aviation Trainer at the Frederick
Flight Center, at Frederick (MD) Municipal Airport.
Frederick Flight Center, which offers courses in flight training
for Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multi-engine and Flight
Instructor ratings, is now offering the GAT-II as part of their
Flight Training Program. [They're an authorized Cessna Pilot
Center, too --ed.]
Great for Spatial Disorientation Training, as Well
Frederick Flight Center will use the GAT-II to increase student
pilot retention, and expand its training curriculum for student and
experienced pilots. A benefit of utilizing the GAT-II will be to
provide training in the hazards associated with spatial
disorientation during flight. According to Mr. Patrick McFadden,
President, "Frederick Flight Center is the region's premier flight
training facility, and the addition of the GAT-II ratchets us up
yet another notch in the professional flight training services
available to our clients. The full-motion action of the unit
provides a capability not found in very many flight schools
anywhere in the country. We will now be able to safely provide
training in such areas as emergency upset recovery and spatial
disorientation, along with very realistic, more conventional IFR
initial and recurrency training, even when real-world conditions
keep everything else grounded. Being located right here on the
field with AOPA headquarters, we will naturally be working closely
with them in support of their Spatial Disorientation training
efforts, and encourage everyone to visit us for an intro both to
the new GAT-II and to our large fleet of modern, well- equipped
aircraft."
Spatial Disorientation training emphasizes the physiological
hazards which pilots could experience. FAA statistics show that
when spatial disorientation is involved in a mishap, nine out of
ten of those mishaps are fatal. Frederick Flight Center is the
first in the Northeast to offer this type of advanced pilot
training with a GAT-II.
According to Mr. Greg French, Chief Instructor,
"We work with a large student base, as well as experienced pilots,
who are frequently looking to expand their training beyond the
normal flight envelope, to develop an understanding of the
conditions that can lead to spatial disorientation, how to
recognize the symptoms, and how to safely recover from those
effects if they ever find themselves in such a situation. The
GAT-II is the perfect device for that training. The ability of the
unit to rotate a full 360 degrees in either direction induces
kinesthetic effects that the more conventional motion-base units
simply can't do. Combine that with the device's pitch and roll
capability, and the pilot's head is guaranteed to end up spinning!
The training really is invaluable. Plus, folks can get in the unit
and instantly start shooting very realistic approaches at virtually
any airport in the country under any weather conditions - and that
includes GPS approaches, making it a great GPS approach trainer.
Everyone's going to want to fly this thing!"
Enhancements expand usefulness...
"The addition of a GAT-II to Frederick Flight
Center's training program will significantly complement their
training curriculum. Their GAT-II is very well equipped, with a
Bendix-King KLN 94 GPS," states Glenn King, ETC's Aircrew Training
Systems, Applications Manager.
ETC recently introduced the GAT-II(R) family of General Aviation
Trainers. GAT-II(R)s are available in Single Engine, Multi-engine,
Helicopter and Regional Jet versions.
Each GAT-II(R) supports VFR, IFR, as well as Spatial
Disorientation (SD) training. The motion platform provides roll,
pitch, and yaw in response to pilot input. The visual display
provides a photo-realistic terrain database and accurate modeling
of major cities and terrain features. The list of impressive
features includes selectable meteorological conditions, instructor
selectable malfunctions; various map views and contains all FAA
listed airports and navaids.