Story ID: 
FTD Maker Alsim Demos AATD
By: Amy Laboda
Caption: With a rapid refresh rate this fixed flight sim won’t make pilots queasy.
Word Count: 206
French advanced flight training device manufacturer Alsim (Booth 39-40, Hangar D) is a first-time exhibitor at Sun ’n‘ Fun 2018. The company brought with it an AL250 FAA-certified advanced aviation-training device (AATD) and is providing demo "flights" in the unit at its booth during the show.

“We just sold the first American AL250 to Sarasota-based Cirrus Aviation, where it will be an integral part of that company’s instrument, multi-engine rating, and emergency procedures courses,” Mickael Herard, product manager and head of the Alsim certification team, told AIN. The 24-year-old brainchild of airline pilot Jérôme Binachon and computer engineer Jean-Paul Monnin, the Nantes, France-based manufacturer opened its U.S. sales office in Austin, Texas, last year.

The Alsim AL250 image generator presents a 250-degree wraparound visual display operating at 60 frames per second, which eliminates lags that can cause spatial disorientation. The system has several aircraft it can imitate, including two twins and both high-wing and low-wing single-engine trainers with functional glass cockpit instrumentation and moveable switches and throttle quadrants.

The Alsim AL250 is one of several AATD type flight simulators the company manufactures and distributes. “We train pilots in basic procedures all over the world,” explained Herard.