Northern Air raises the bar
Bonners Ferry’s Northern Air, Inc. has a great reputation as a premier flight training school in the Inland Northwest, but their newest pilot training program is raising that bar even higher.
Northern Air’s Dave Parker recently acquired a pilot training program that works through their FMX Redbird full-motion simulator. Called GIFT (Guided Independent Flight Training), and recently released this summer, it enables a student pilot to acquire flight experience without the cost of an instructor or plane rental.
“This is the next generation of flight training,” explains Parker. “With this program, a student can get an individual lesson in everything from level flight, turns, instrument work, to takeoffs and landings. It can potentially reduce the number of actual flight hours from the average 67-71 hours for a private pilot’s license to closer to 40 (FAA’s minimum requirement) or 50 hours, a 30-40% reduction.”
Used as a supplement to instruction, the program works through an individual user’s key (purchased by the student), which leads that student through a video lesson, and then a flying lesson on the simulator. If the student is having problems with a lesson or concept, the virtual instructor will have the student repeat it until they have a grasp of it. Once the lesson is complete, the “instructor” will grade the lesson giving the student input into what they did well and what needed more work. Students can complete each lesson as many times as they want or need. At any time, the student can transition to an airplane and fly a lesson with an instructor that can be logged as flight time towards their private pilot’s license.
GIFT is “the next level of simulator-integrated flight training, allowing students to independently practice tasks, get feedback, and become comfortable with maneuvers before they get into the airplane,” said Josh Harnagel, VP of marketing for Redbird. “Then, on their own time, the student can get back in the sim and continue to practice and see how their scores for each task improves.”
Northern Air will be offering purchase packages for those students using GIFT, which will include the purchase of the Redbird key and license, and enough hours on the simulator to complete the lesson modules. Contact Northern Air at 208-267-4359 for more information.