Now, you can have cockpit experience

Mumbai: One of the world’s oldest B-747-200 simulators has found its final resting place at the Nehru Science Centre (NSC) in Worli. It is being readied for display in nine months in a specially built hall.
“Normal construction cannot stand a weight of over 370 tonne. We had to get a special space constructed for this display,” NSC director Anil Manekar told DNA. That, however, was the easiest part of what he described as “a humongous challenge in trying to preserve this representative of our scientific and technical heritage”.
The simulator has been used by Air India for training since the mid-1970s, when the wide-body Boeing 747s or ‘Jumbo Jets’ had become the rage. “As technology moved on, the first simulator soon found fewer takers,” said a senior member of the technical team overseeing its running. “Maintaining the simulator became a struggle as its parts became hard to find. The defunct machine was abandoned in early 2008 and a decision made to scrap it.”
The NSC heard of this and convinced the authorities to part with the simulator so that it can be displayed. “Not many of us are privileged to go into the cockpit and see the systems. We felt this will be the next best thing for people to get that experience,” said Manekar. “The authorities said they would give it to us, but the entire responsibility of dissembling, moving and assembling it would be ours. All they did was refer us to contractor S Desai who was willing to undertake this task.”
25/03/11 Yogesh Pawar/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2011