The Lincolnite Tries: Newark College’s new high-tech flight simulator

Newark College has installed a new £40,000 flight simulator to help train aspiring pilots and engineers, and The Lincolnite went to use it and try our hand at aviation.

It was introduced in December 2021 and will eventually form part of a multi-million pound centre at the Air and Space Institute sector of the college.

The simulator will move to the new proposed state-of-the-art aviation training facility, built on the former Newark Cattle Market site, and will open in 2023. Once complete, it will be the UK’s first International Air and Space Training Institute.

The simulator was bought and installed in December 2021. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

It cost £40,000 and will form part of a new multi-million pound facility at the college. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

It will help boost the pathway training programme set up by Newark College, in conjunction with the air and space industry and the RAF, for future pilots and engineers.

The simulator allows for students to get a feel for flying planes, from take-off to landing and all things in-between, building confidence and practice before heading out onto the real thing.

The cockpit has hundreds of dials and replicates real aviation situations. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The screen can replicate anywhere on the planet. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Inside the simulator are a large number of buttons and dials that you would expect to see in the cockpit of a big airline, and the technology allows for you to fly in any part of the world.

It can introduce variables such as different weather types and plane failures to prepare budding pilots for the possibility of something going wrong while in the air, though with the safety element of knowing you are on the ground.

Shown the ropes before attempting some flying of our own! | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Flying over Lincolnshire with feet still firmly on the ground. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The Lincolnite reporter Ellis Karran went to sample the simulator, taking off from RAF Waddington and flying over Lincolnshire in a digital format.

We attempted a take-off, regular flying, a few turns and then a landing, which went great right up until the landing back at Waddington, which saw our reporter crash into the runway, oops!

The steering on the plane makes you feel like you’re in the air. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

There was plenty to learn before take-off! | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Students have been trialling the technology ever since it was introduced at the end of last year, and it is hoped the investment of the simulator will encourage more people to pursue careers in that field.

It has made the aviation sector more accessible, and Newark College hope to have up to 50 students using the simulator in the next academic year.

Widescreen views on the screen, but maximum focus was required inside the simulator itself. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

“Does it always feel like this travelling at 200mph?” | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite