Includes Ab-Initio Flight Training, "Furlough" Effect

ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: Members of the ACES development team -- the team behind the popular "Microsoft Flight Simulator" series, but who were recently furloughed from their jobs at Microsoft Game Studios -- have banded together under the newly-created 'UltReality' label to launch their inaugural offering, "Aviation Job Simulator 2009."

"We had essentially reached our peak with FSX in regards to the level of reality available to the serious gamer utilizing a desktop computer," said UltReality founder Eric Smith. "We also felt the concept of simulating only the flight characteristics of an airplane was self-limiting... and decided with AJS-1 to strive to replicate the entire aviation job experience, from ab-initio training on through working at a legacy airline."

To that end, the AJS team abandoned the desktop software model, and instead launched the initial program using four used OPINICUS full-motion simulators, purchased through the sale of assets from a defunct small jet manufacturer. The interior assemblies from those sims were removed, and replaced with a 270-degree panoramic display system and removable control consoles, attached to individual, full-motion hydraulic actuators.

Used in tandem, those systems are capable of replicating a full range of environments... including a ground school classroom, to a union meeting to vote on strike action. Of course, the simulators also recreate the cockpits of 15 different aircraft types -- from a 30-year-old Cessna 172 to a modern Cirrus SR20, from a CRJ700 regional jet to a Boeing 777 Freighter.

"Advanced computer modeling skills learned from our days at ACES -- we're as surprised as you Microsoft didn't make those codes proprietary -- allowed us to accurately recreate motions and sensations in all environments," Smith said. "We can replicate all flight conditions, as well as situations likely to be encountered throughout your aviation career... including chastizing by a disgruntled checkride examiner, to the screaming of SuperSaver-fare passengers furious about a minor ground delay."

Smith boasted the team is most proud of one feature in particular: the "Furlough" effect, which comes at the end of the programmed flight training scenario. "By employing the hydraulic actuators in a sudden, Emergency-stop condition, the entire simulator suddenly drops out from under the trainee at a force of minus 6 Gs," he said, "thus accurately recreating what for many is the end of their aviation careers.

"This effect is accompanied by sounds recorded by actual UltReality workers at the unemployment office in Redmond, WA," Smith explained. "A prompt then appears asking if the player wishes to try again at another airline. If the answer is yes, the player returns to the Job Applicant environment... but not before a mechanical hand smacks them across the face."

Pricing for the UltReality AJS has not been determined, though an introductory pricetag of $2.5 million is rumored. "We can arrange high-interest financing to cover those costs," Smith helpfully noted. "With approved credit, the only other requirements are a three-story hangar or similar space, and your own personal power generating station."

FMI: www.ultreality.com/ajs