Take off isn’t far away

Aviation enthusiasts across the world fulfil their desire to get wings through virtual flying. India has been a late starter in the domain— here it is still at a very early stage to be called a trend.
Microsoft flight simulator software, easily available in video games stores, is what is required to get initiated into the virtual world of aviation. But it is only the beginning of a journey that invariably gets driven by the desire to get as close to real as possible.
Not many know it better than Vybhava Srinivasan. The Bangalorean chartered accountant’s girlfriend, now his wife, gifted him simulation software seeing his interest in aviation. Today, more than seven years later, Vybhava, who works in PricewaterhouseCoopers, has built at home a Boeing 737 NG (next-generation) cockpit.
It’s a complex mix of hardware and software he accumulated over a period of time. The 737 has an advanced instrument panel, yoke, throttle quadrant, multi-functional displays, auto-pilot and autothrottle panels and even original pilot’s seats—old Boeing 727 seats made available to him by a friend in Indonesia, but for a price.
The process took more than two years—and left a hole in his pocket.
Yet, for Vybhava, flight simulation is more than a hobby today. From being a “pilot”, he has grown into managing the affairs of global virtual aviation community. He is a director of International Virtual Aviation Organisation (IVEO), a Belgium based non-profit group that provides infrastructure to fliers through a network of 16 servers across the world including one in India. Vybhava is also executive VP (administration) of mycockpit.org, the world’s largest home cockpit building community.
IVEO is one of the biggest communities of online fliers, rivalled only by Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network (Vatsim). “If IVEO is European, Vatsim is American,” says Vybhava, lamenting that the two networks have only minimal presence in India despite the huge world-wide popularity.
01/05/11 Gautam Datt/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2011