Tropic Air, the Airline of Belize, is the largest and most experienced airline in the country of Belize and prides itself for being innovative and offering exceptional customer service. After having implemented a Safety Management Program six years ago, Tropic has taken a huge step in training their pilots to be prepared for any situation by investing in a state of the art flight stimulator.
Tropic Air made a $500,000 investment on the Redbird CRV Flight Simulator which was made in Austin, Texas. The simulator was built with the help and consultation of Tropic Air pilots and Tropic’s IT Department. It is equipped with terrain awareness systems, weather radar and all the advanced avionics needed for advanced training.
While maneuvering a plane seems quite easy from a passenger’s point of view, as part of a presentation to the media, Dorian’s Angels got the opportunity to experience the art of flying, which proved to be quite a challenge. The Angels got a chance to sit behind the piloting controls of the simulator with the help of Safety Manager, Raul “Buddy” Alamilla. Under the direction of Buddy, ‘Angel’ Perlita was able to take off properly but managed to crash to the ground shortly after.
‘Angel’ Sofie did quite a good job in taking off and even though she managed to land it wasn’t a smooth landing, LOL! Thank goodness these Angels don’t have actual wings to fly or we can imagine the havoc they would create. We decided it’s best to leave the flying of an aircraft to the experts and hope that the pilots at Tropic Air take full advantage of training in the state of the art machine.
The simulator has full motion realistic pitch, bank and yaw with a 220 degree visual display. Pilots will be trained to handle emergencies by going through the actual procedures in the simulator. The purpose of simulator is to enhance safety by better preparing Tropic Air pilots to handle extreme and/or emergency situations, if any arise. Tropic Air has in place safety systems and programs to help in accident avoidance and the simulator is one more safety measure added to the company.
New pilots will become familiar to aircraft systems before being in the actual aircraft and seasoned pilots can remain sharp! This will come in handy for Tropic Air’s Pilot Project. Training regulations can be met and exceeded as the simulator is approved by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and in the US. When pilots fly in the simulator it counts as the actual hours as if they have been in actual plane time.
Safety Manger and Training Officer is Raul “Buddy” Alamilla and other training officers include Mike Estell, Roy Bradley, Alberto Ancona, Ravie Nunez and Jersen Granados. Tropic Air’s Redbird CRV Simulator is the only one in the region.
The Angels Get Their Wings! – but check out the video below and see their epic fail as they crash during their first attempt at flying. LOL!
