Civilian F-35 Simulator Florida USA

[spazsinbad]

If anyone can test fly this F-35 simulator please and provide feedback here it would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Civilian F-35 Simulator Florida USA 01 Sep 2013 Josh Boatwright

"...Repak's business, Sim Center Tampa Bay, gets similar rave reviews on TripAdvisor for his collection of simulators, which also include an F-16, F-35 and a Formula One racecar.

The problem is, hardly anyone can find him tucked away on the bottom floor of an office building on the outskirts of Dunedin.

That's why Repak wants to move his flight simulator business to a high traffic thoroughfare such as Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater or possibly downtown St. Petersburg, where he hopes to tie his attraction to the city's legacy as the birthplace of commercial aviation.

Business leaders say it would be an ideal high-end attraction to complement downtown's many restaurants, museums and theaters.

"What a great attraction that would be for our downtown," said St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce President Chris Steinocher, who has tried the simulators.

"It's a high-end attraction, and it definitely celebrates something we're very proud of here in St. Pete, which is the birth of commercial aviation."

Repak has spent 20 years working on his simulators.

When he emigrated with his wife from Hungary to the Clearwater area in the 1990s, he dreamed of owning his own plane. He even considered trying to join the Air Force....

...Since opening two years ago, the business has drawn everyone from nine-year-old boys to 90-year-old World War II veterans.

They've found the Sim Center on the web through sites such as TripAdvisor, where customers have helped the business rise in the rankings ahead of long-standing area attractions such as Caladesi Island.

Still, many customers drive right by the business' nondescript location at 1299 Main St.

A busy corner on Gulf-to-Bay in Clearwater would be a much better spot for getting the attention of tourists, Repak said.

St. Petersburg could be even better, as both the home of the annual Honda Grand Prix street race and the site of the first commercial airline flight in 1914, piloted by Tony Jannus.

Repak expects to make a decision in the coming weeks and plans to reopen in a new location this fall."

http://www.equities.com/news/latest-new ... 02/1775035

[Corsair1963]

If anyone can test fly this F-35 simulator please and provide feedback here it would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Civilian F-35 Simulator Florida USA 01 Sep 2013 Josh Boatwright

"...Repak's business, Sim Center Tampa Bay, gets similar rave reviews on TripAdvisor for his collection of simulators, which also include an F-16, F-35 and a Formula One racecar.

The problem is, hardly anyone can find him tucked away on the bottom floor of an office building on the outskirts of Dunedin.

That's why Repak wants to move his flight simulator business to a high traffic thoroughfare such as Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater or possibly downtown St. Petersburg, where he hopes to tie his attraction to the city's legacy as the birthplace of commercial aviation.

Business leaders say it would be an ideal high-end attraction to complement downtown's many restaurants, museums and theaters.

"What a great attraction that would be for our downtown," said St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce President Chris Steinocher, who has tried the simulators.

"It's a high-end attraction, and it definitely celebrates something we're very proud of here in St. Pete, which is the birth of commercial aviation."

Repak has spent 20 years working on his simulators.

When he emigrated with his wife from Hungary to the Clearwater area in the 1990s, he dreamed of owning his own plane. He even considered trying to join the Air Force....

...Since opening two years ago, the business has drawn everyone from nine-year-old boys to 90-year-old World War II veterans.

They've found the Sim Center on the web through sites such as TripAdvisor, where customers have helped the business rise in the rankings ahead of long-standing area attractions such as Caladesi Island.

Still, many customers drive right by the business' nondescript location at 1299 Main St.

A busy corner on Gulf-to-Bay in Clearwater would be a much better spot for getting the attention of tourists, Repak said.

St. Petersburg could be even better, as both the home of the annual Honda Grand Prix street race and the site of the first commercial airline flight in 1914, piloted by Tony Jannus.

Repak expects to make a decision in the coming weeks and plans to reopen in a new location this fall."

http://www.equities.com/news/latest-new ... 02/1775035

Sweet I live 30 minutes away! Yet, the link was blank
???

[Corsair1963]

Found it but it's $99.00 Per Flight Hour........

http://www.simcentertampabay.com/


Yet, you can get group rates. I have a friend that is a American Airlines 767 Pilot and his son who is learning to be a Commercial Pilot. So, maybe they would be interested? Plus, a couple more......

[spazsinbad]

Thanks. It would cost me return air fare from Oz but I would be interested. Put it on my bucket list so to speak.

"Fly the one and only, real size F-35 simulator!
We are proud to announce the arrival of the F-35 Thor Fighter Jet Simulator to our flight center. This is the one and only F-35 flight simulator in the USA available for the public - your very unique opportunity to experience what it feels like to be a Top Gun of the BEST AirForce fighter ever built!

Conceived in the mid 1990s, the tri-variant F-35 represents the pinnacle of more than 50 years of fighter development technology. Designed to dominate the skies, the F-35 combines the 5th Generation characteristics of radar evading stealth, supersonic speed and extreme agility with the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft in history.

Missions consist of approx 15 minutes of briefing and 45 minutes of air time.

Price: $ 99 / one hour air combat mission on the F-35"

http://www.simcentertampabay.com/#!blank/c32f
&
http://www.simcentertampabay.com/#!f-35-pictures/cz4c

[steve2267]

A little over three years now this thread has sat here, til I stumbled across it today.

So, has anyone who frequents this board tried the thing out? Corsair?

This looks like the same thing marketed by Flight-Dynamix which I think is used by the US and possibly the Aussies for initial training.

[spazsinbad]

Where did this idea come from? "...possibly the Aussies for initial training." I think it is clear what it is 'one & only'.

[steve2267]

Where did this idea come from? "...possibly the Aussies for initial training." I think it is clear what it is 'one & only'.

Google search string: "F-35 simulator thor" because the sim center in Tampa mentioned "thor" somewhere. That turns up hits @ Lockheed Martin and Flight Dynamix, LLC. Browsing to Flight Dynamix F-35 web page, under Customer List:

• Tubitak-SAGE (Turkey)
• Royal Australia Air Force (Sydney)

It was the News web page at the Flight Dynamix website that made me suspicious: http://www.flight-dynamix.com/news. Weather for Adelaide at the bottom of the video.

Then this YouTube video shows Adelaide and Brisbane Wx at the bottom of the screen, and the people tawk kinduh fuhnee:


So when I added two and 2 togethuh, I figgahd you Aussies wuzzuh buyuhn 'em too...

Other Flight Dynamix videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FlightDynamixAdmin1

[steve2267]

I am guessing that this sim may be used as part of the initial academic part of the F-35 pilot syllabus, and that it might form the basis for the mission sim that "slides into the bubble display" that is the mission simulator. But its just an educated guess / suspicion on my part.

[SpudmanWP]

I don't see how a civilian company can own the simulator and offer it up to the public. It would think that a lot of what's on it is classified. I wonder what Block it has loaded?

[spazsinbad]

'steve2267' thanks for that - at the link you gave underneath the graphic is this text:

"This is the Flight-Dynamix F-35A Joint Strike Fighter Simulation system featured on Good Day Australia. The simulator was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in November of 2011"

News to me but hey the RAAF don't tell me squat. All I know is what is found on the internet. I'll investigate further if possible. AFAIK the RAAF will have FMS and portable FMS and the desktop simulator as used by pilots under training at Eglin & Luke AFB. Given the date of 2011 I'll guess they wanted something quick for other purposes - what I do not know.

The throttle in the first picture at top of page does not look authentic (like the 'cow pie') so already I'll guess the sim under discussion is used for in house demos or development for other uses such as OBISC to show output examples:

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=23043&p=360869&hilit=OBISC#p360869

OK I have just viewed the video and to me it seems the thing is a recruiting tool for the RAAF. Personally I have not heard of this before nor seen any info on it anywhere before today. I'll look for a screen grab with the 'cow pie'. So to me it is like the 'travel sim' that LM tour around the USofA (and Israel had one also) to gee up F-35 support from all & sundry.

This screenshot indicates to me that the throttle is a cow pie like the real thing. Then there is the THOR video below...

[steve2267]

The Flight Dynamix "cockpit" into which you climb looks identical, as far as I can tell, to the "simulators" Lockheed Martin has trotted out at airshows, and other dog-and-pony shows.

I vaguely recall a video recently which showed a "cockpit" sliding on rails into a "display bubble" (i.e. a "golf ball"), and my memory is teasing me that these Flight Dynamix "cockpits" are the same thing as what went into the display bubble. But again, it is just a teasing suspicion on my part.

[spazsinbad]

The Flight Dynamix "cockpit" into which you climb looks identical, as far as I can tell, to the "simulators" Lockheed Martin has trotted out at airshows, and other dog-and-pony shows.

I vaguely recall a video recently which showed a "cockpit" sliding on rails into a "display bubble" (i.e. a "golf ball"), and my memory is teasing me that these Flight Dynamix "cockpits" are the same thing as what went into the display bubble. But again, it is just a teasing suspicion on my part.

Probably scattered in 'AVIONICS' thread or elsewhere there is quite a bit of info on the FMS and the portable FMS (two shipping containers) used for example in/on CVF and the desktop simulators for switch learning and mission sims etc. There is one post that puts it all together that I'll find (this stuff intrigues me so in the 4.4Gb PDF there is a lot of info about simulators in general especially the F-35 so now EVEN MORE info goes into this 12,000 odd page PDF

Yes as you say the Oz Sim looks to replicate the LM travel sim - that sim was at AVALON Air show many years ago now and I hear perhaps an F-35 will be at the next show soon. Yes I have a video showing the FMS and the desktop sims - but not the portable sims - only a graphic of these. The LM sims are exact replicas along with the software to be exact as in the aircraft - it is vital to keep it all in sync so that the FMS particularly is a valuable 'non flying' training tool for F-35 pilots.

Because of the 'music copyright' notice you may have to click the YOUTUBE ICON at BTM RIGHT to view the video online.

[spazsinbad]

FMS (Full Mission Simulator) & deployable mission-rehearsal trainer (DMRT) LONG ARTICLE - GREAT VALUE no graphics
ONE story: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... sf-219642/

FMS: TWO story: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/pres ... F-FMS.html
&
http://news.usni.org/2013/11/26/lockhee ... ining-site

THREE - DMRT!: http://aviationweek.com/defense/f-35-si ... d-software
Quote at end reads a bit funny but author means DMRT at Eglin... (same as DMRT on CVF)

"...Lockheed Martin delivered the first deployable mission-rehearsal trainer in October to the U.K. for use on its new Queen Elizabeth II aircraft carrier. The system at Eglin is an abbreviated version of the FMS that is based inside conex
boxes. Although it employs the full software load of the FMS, it has a reduced footprint for shipboard applications. Pilots will use this system to rehearse specific missions."

[spazsinbad]

Search on DMRT or whatever & there is good stuff about the F-35 sims:

This is MOI: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lockheedm ... 071340953/

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14122&p=282358&hilit=DMRT#p282358
&
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14122&p=176625&hilit=DMRT#p176625

Graphic from: http://www.amdo.org/JSF_Program_and_33_FW_Updates.pdf (3.4Mb)

[spazsinbad]

I'll make an F-35 ONLY excerpt of the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWaNm7313Y4

Presumably we see the engine start sequence exactly as it is - simple - at the start of sim sequence shown: