Matt's on a different plane ... and it's surreal

[Guest News]

Sydneysider Matthew Sheil has built what could easily be one of the most elaborate big boy's toys in the world, and his efforts have earned him a Guinness world record.

 

Sheil is the top gun in the surreal world of flight simulator enthusiasts, where virtual pilots join virtual airlines, fly virtual routes and are assisted by virtual air traffic controllers.

 

For most, a joystick and Microsoft's Flight Simulator PC software is sufficient, but, over the past 10 years, Sheil has built what Guinness describes as the "world's most expensive home flight simulator".

 

A homebrew version of the $60 million simulators used to train pilots, Sheil's contraption is almost identical to the cockpit of a 747-400.

 

Thanks to 45 different software programs running on 14 different computers, the simulator allows Sheil to fly to and from 27,000 different airports around the world with breathtaking realism.

 

By day, Sheil runs a trucking parts company but at night he takes to the skies with other enthusiasts from around the globe. The simulator is stored at his warehouse in Chipping Norton.

 

It is able to mimic real-world weather conditions in any country with startling accuracy, and the hydraulics system means Sheil can feel every bump.

 

"When you taxi out on the runway you feel it bumping on the cracks in the pavement, you feel it when the wheels touch down," he said.

 

While only a handful of people in the world have a simulator that's anywhere near as good as Sheil's, thanks to Microsoft's Flight Simulator, anyone with a PC, joystick and an internet connection can fly with him from the comfort of their bedrooms.

 

Terry Scanlan, founder of the virtual flying association VATPAC, says there are 5000 members in Australia.

 

"We've got real pilots that fly for Qantas that are on our network and we've also got air traffic controllers that do this as a hobby as well - one of the air traffic controllers that works in Melbourne is in charge of our training," he said.

 

Scanlan said although air traffic control sounds boring it's actually fun and challenging. Last night he was tracking 20 or 30 aircraft movements.

 

"The challenge - as it is in the real world - is to keep planes from flying into each other and you do that by the use of the simulated radar that we have and we can actually see the targets and following real-world procedures we keep the aircraft separated," he said.

 

In Sheil's simulator, computer screens replace the windows and if he is flying in the virtual world behind a person in Melbourne, and they are using a Qantas 767, "we actually see a Qantas 767 out the window - the software puts it in there for us - and he sees us".

 

Moreover, if Sheil flies through Russia, he is greeted by a volunteer Russian air traffic controller. Cars can be seen on the road when he comes in to land and people wave at him from the terminals.

 

Sheil says it's sometimes easy to forget that it's a simulation.

 

No one involved in virtual flying make any money from it. In fact, all of the money Sheil earns by renting out his simulator for training is donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

 

The simulator cost him $300,000 to build - a far cry from the $60 million price tag on the professional simulators - but many of the parts were donated to him because of his charity work.

 

Every year, Sheil and scores of other simulator enthusiasts from countries including Britain, Scotland, USA and Austria, participate in an event called Worldflight (video here) to raise money for the RFDS.

 

Participants go to their nearest flight simulator - Sheil hosts about 15 people, some from overseas - and take part in a round-the-world-flight, taking legs in shifts for an entire week.

 

"They're here for the whole week and they'll be rostered on at certain times of the day to fly," he said.

 

"It's all done in real-world conditions - Qantas sponsors us and they provide airline food for a week."

 

Sheil is a veteran real-world pilot and owns a Beechcraft Baron B58. He said he preferred flying a real plane but enjoyed the simulator because there were no limitations.

 

"The [real] plane I fly you take off and you point it in the direction of Melbourne and you press a button and away it goes until you come into land, whereas a simulator you can do whatever you want - if you want to fly upside down, fly upside down," he said.

 

"If we hit a mountain or the ground the simulator just freezes in its current state and everything goes red - and then we just hit reset."