Sunday, September 03, 2006

In the Beginning


Welcome to an online journal about the creation and running of Sim Flite Minnesota, a small enterprise devoted to sim and GPS training. I am a passionate advocate of sim training for pilots and for years utilized a Frasca 142 for instruction. However this spring the Frasca was sold, so I was forced to finally make a decision about my future as a flight instructor. My real interest lies in sim and GPS training, so I resigned from Knowlton Flight Instruction Services, where I had been chief flight instructor for several years, in order to set up my own company for sim training.

I had been researching various sims (technically FTDs - flight training devices) on a low level for quite some time, but the sale of the Frasca made it necessary for me to move forward with the purchase of a sim and the formation of an LLC to pursue sim and GPS training. The sim I chose is the new Elite, an FTD that is Elite’s answer to Frasca. It has the same FAA accreditation as Frasca, meaning it can be used for 20 hours of instrument training, as well as IPCs and approaches for currency.

Sim Flite Minnesota is located at the Anoka country airport (KANE), in the north metro area of Minneapolis. It has been quite an interesting experience to set up this company, and I will recount those growing pains. I had created another online journal, when I was chief flight instructor for Knowlton Flight, and many of those articles will eventually be uploaded to this new journal. But for now, welcome to my journal about the creation of Sim Flite Minnesota. It has been quite a journey.

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