Launching into virtual flight and space, the Alaska Aviation Museum has added a new dimension to its exhibits.
The museum unveiled new flight and space flight simulators on Oct. 19. The Shuttle Discovery and the Forces of Flight were introduced to its board of directors and the media during an informal press conference at the Lake Hood facility.
"This will help the museum take aviation into a new realm, be more modern and offer a flight demonstration with simulators," said Norm Legasse, executive director of the Alaska Aviation Museum.
After an introduction by Dave Karp, president of the board of directors of the Alaska Aviation Museum who explained and thanked the sponsors of the new addition to the venue, Legasse invited board members to try the units.
Each simulator exhibit features three interactive stations for museum patrons to challenge their piloting skills.
The Shuttle Discovery exhibit encompasses two flight stations in the cockpit, providing the challenge of attempting to successfully recover the Space Shuttle at the Edwards Air Force Base facility.
The third station on the Shuttle simulator is a docking program for approaching and docking the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station. This new addition to the museum is sponsored by BP and Chaz Limited Collision Express.
The Forces of Flight simulator, sponsored by the Municipality of Anchorage and Shade Tree Micro Aviation, is a three-station aircraft flight simulator with the main station featuring a 150-degree field of view with 138-inch High-Definition monitors. The main flight station is located inside of a Cessna 206 cockpit with two additional flight stations located on the front and rear of the exhibit.
Aviation Museum visitors using the Forces of Flight can select from 12 Alaska scenarios using X-Plane 9 software featuring the Museum's Grumman Goose & Widgeon, Norseman, Super Cub, Catalina and F-15. The flight scenarios include takeoff and landing at Lake Hood, Juneau, Ketchikan, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and on the Kahiltna glacier.
Contact Rob Stapleton at robstapleton(at)alaska.net