You are suspended in a harness which is connected to our simulator. You can also bring your own harness! You have the brakes in your hands, which are connected to sensors, so that the system can determine your inputs, the same applies to steering with weightshift. So steering feels very natural. On your head you get virtual reality glasses, which are kind of diving goggles with two screens, one for each eye. This literally transfers you into a virtual world, where you can see depth just like in real life. The glasses are connected to a special computer, on which a professional flight simulator runs. If you look around you you see a realistic representation of what you would see in real life. Below you can see your legs/podharness and above you the paraglider. In the distance you can see (depending on which scenario we load) the mountains, the trees and buildings… There are cars. The instructor literally stands next to you and operates the simulator. We can pause and try things again. We can change the wind direction and speed, the type of weather and the whole environment. We can start your flight wherever we want and have maximum freedom to give you the most educationally rich experience possible.
With the brake lines and your weightshift. Identical to actual flying!
Our customers rate flying in our sim as “very realistic”, so similar to actual flying and we are very happy with that. This ensures that you “fly away” in our simulator, for your brain there is hardly any difference with real actual flying. Of course there are differences, if you want to read more about them, please check the question below.
Our simulator is constantly evolving and new features and therefore training modules are regularly made available. We like to be transparent about the current restrictions so that you know what to expect. You can fly and land with the sim (including the flare) but you can only sit in it. So you can’t practice takeoff or walk on the ground after landing. Flight behaviour with deformations in the glider is not yet simulated, so you cannot pull collapses or b-stall. The simulation of thermals is sufficiently realistic to learn how to center properly, one of the most difficult skills in thermal flying. What is not yet realistic is the location of thermals, learning to find thermals based on the landscape shape and wind. We are also busy simulating other pilots in the air, yet at the moment you are the only one in the air, so it’s nice and quiet.
If you haven’t used VR glasses before, your brain may need to get used to that. This can cause some discomfort at first, but there are also people who do not suffer from anything. Generally speaking our customers hardly ever experience serious discomfort. To get you used to it, we work with multiple time slots with short breaks in between. People that have (had) motion sickness in cars sometimes feel sick in the simulator, this can be avoided by taking (perscription) meds against this.
No, generally speaking not. The VR glasses fit over most frames. If you have huge elton john glasses, leave them at home and bring a smaller version just in case.
Our customers rate the image quality as “realistic”. This simulator has been developed to mimic the flying behaviour and control of a paraglider as realistically as possible in order to create a perfect learning tool. Our focus is therefore also on the recognisability of reference points and the landscape, but in all transparency: it is not our goal to make everything photorealistic. When our customers fly a landing approach in our sim on a landing field where they have flown in real life, they make the same choices, as in real life, resulting in the same landing location. We’d say that is great quality!
Basically, we can fly anywhere in the world with the sim! Recreating the areas is partly manual work and takes a lot of time. At the moment we have the areas listed below available. If you want to fly somewhere that is not on the list, please indicate this when booking. We strive to build your flight spot as soon as possible, if that does not work out before you come to us, you can fly in one of the areas below. Please contact us before you book if that is really a problem for you, for example because your goal is to explore a specific area that we have not yet modeled. Greifenburg – Austria
Annecy – France
Dune du Pyla – France
We see the sim as an addition to “regular” flying (lessons). In order to lead a long and happy life as a paragliding pilot, a good education and current experience is essential, various schools can provide you with this. Our simulator does not replace that, but complements that and builds on it. In commercial aviation, pilots are largely trained in simulators and even have to take annual exams on simulators to show that they achieve the required level of quality. With us you use the simulator to give specific skills a huge boost and to get back “in the flow” for when you haven’t flown for a while. This means that you spend less time and stress on these things when flying, which means a huge time and cost saving.
That’s up to you! When booking, you get (with most programs) the choice of booking a timeslot for yourself or a shared timeslot. In both cases you get the same amount of time in the simulator, the difference is the duration of the time slot and the variety of things you will experience. If you choose a solo timeslot your timeslot is shorter. If you choose a shared slot, we try to combine you with other customers and your time slot is longer. In this way we can do the pre- and debriefing together and everyone learns from each other. It is also nice to have a break between the blocks and that can be done in this way by alternating pilots. The person who is in the simulator gets all the attention from the instructor, the others can then watch on a screen or prepare their own exercises.
Because it is a very intensive training. If we see actual flying like drinking lemonade, then flying in our sim is like drinking pure syrup. You get a lot more flavor in a sip! Then it is wise to take a break after a few sips. You can then take in what you have learned and reflect on it and think about where you are going to focus in the next block.
A minute of flight in the simulator is many times cheaper than a minute flying “actual” and you can spend this minute much more focused. Calculate what a minute of actual flying really costs you. And how much of that minute do you actually spend doing things that really add value to your qualities as a pilot? Actual flying is of course what you do all this for, to get the most out of that a little sim training helps hugely!
We have something for everyone. From people who have never flown and want to feel what it will be like to float a kilometer above the mountains. Up to XC pilots who fly hundreds of kilometers every year but want to brush up on their skills at the start of the season. All our training programs have a specific target group indicated, in order to ensure an optimal customer experience. Teaching someone who has never flown, how to land with gusting crosswinds in a small field is not such a success… That’s what we mean by that. If you are unsure whether a program is suitable for you, please consult with us before booking, we are happy to think along!
We would love to add value to your business! This simulator is a professional training aid. We are working globally with schools, clubs and training bodies. The product “simulator” involves hardware and software, in combination with training in its use, different training scenarios, maintenance-, service-, update- contracts and license rights. Drop us a line if you are interested in obtaining one to get your training activities to the next level!
We hebben vooralsnog geen plannen om een consumentenversie op de markt te brengen.
