I’ve been doing it on a supervised one to one basis on XH175 recently in prep for a possible Cockpit Fest activity.
I talk through a start up drill for both pilot and nav positions with the person sitting in the seat. Before any switch is flipped I explain the sensations that will happen eg noise, lights, movement.
Both kids and adults have an incredible look of sheer pleasure when a control item responds to their finger selection.
First lights brighten and dim to twist control. Next fault lamps light in response to Press to Test and Day/Night screens are set. Background noise increases in stages as invertors are spun up. Whole displays/gauges animate when their on switch is selected. Dolls eyes flicker and chatter.
For my part I firmly believe that tactile is the way to go and most military hardware is overspeced so switches do stand up to the increased handling.
Now the comments are not just ‘look at all the dials and switches’ but two way exchanges on how did they escape/strap in in x seconds? How did they stand the noise?. Is that the smell of history?
Instead of the view being fleeting the experience is relived with each telling to relatives and showing of the camera phone piccy.
Yes its labour intensive and limiting both in number of people who can experience it and sadly, at the moment, limited to able bodied. It is an area where individual collectors and small museums can add value and one that I feel should be exploited. Just need work on the application methods.
Ross
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