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Frasca offers lower-priced sim

New advanced trainer showcased at EAA AirVenture

Students from Utah Valley University banked and turned in an advanced aviation training device at Frasca International’s EAA AirVenture campus while educators and industry leaders feasted on an old-fashioned barbecue to help celebrate the family-owned simulator company’s sixtieth anniversary.

Utah Valley University students practice on a Frasca simulator during the company's sixtieth anniversary celebration luncheon at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 25. Photo by David Tulis.

Part of the year-long birthday party included a new, lower priced flight simulator that Frasca officials hoped would open up the world of aviation to community colleges, technical schools, and other institutions that were on a budget.

The Urbana, Illinois-based simulator specialist started by Rudy Frasca out of the family garage in 1958 showcased the reconfigurable training device (RTD) that retails for $58,000 and up, depending on configurations and options.

Colleges, flight schools, and other customers can switch between different aircraft models including popular Cessna 172 and Piper Seminole trainers, and choose to display traditional six-pack flight instruments or advanced avionics, “which operate and function exactly as in the aircraft,” the company wrote in a news release.

The reconfigurable simulator has a browser-based flight instructor operating station that can be controlled by phone, tablet, or desktop computer. Digital sound accompanies realistic visuals that can be displayed with either a single or a three-channel monitoring system. Another benefit of the simulator was “easy maintenance and diagnostics and a modular design that takes up minimal floor space and will fit through a standard sized door,” the company noted.

Early adopters of the RTD include American Flyers—Rudy Frasca’s initial TruFlite simulator customer—and Metropolitan State University of Denver, which boasts “the largest fleet of Frasca simulators," the company wrote.

In other news, the simulator manufacturer struck a deal with two college training programs in Japan. The Japan Civil Aviation College ordered five Cirrus SR22 simulators with Garmin NXi avionics, and Tokai University selected a Piper PA-44 Seminole G1000-equipped Level 5 training device to replace a 2009 model.

Frasca Flight Simulation celebrates the flight training device maker's sixtieth anniversary with a luncheon for colleges, instructors, and guests during EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 25. Photo by David Tulis.
David Tulis
David Tulis
Senior Photographer
Senior Photographer David Tulis joined AOPA in 2015 and is a private pilot with single-engine land and sea ratings and a tailwheel endorsement. He is also a certificated remote pilot and co-host of the award-wining AOPA Hangar Talk podcast. David enjoys vintage aircraft and photography.
Topics: Aviation Industry, EAA AirVenture, Training and Safety

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