Did you Know...

  • Published
  • By SSgt. Kelly Galloway
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  The following is the seventh installment of a continuing series about the base, units, and the people at Westover.

Did you know that Westover has a C-5 flight simulator!

Housed in a corner of the Base Hangar, the simulator's cost savings amount to thousands of dollars but its cost savings also preserve the Air Force's most valuable and precious resource - people.

Aircrews "fly" the simulator about 260 hours per month. An average of 65 training sessions occurs monthly with each session lasting four hours. All three crew member positions are trained: pilots, loadmasters, and flight engineers.

These Airmen can accomplish all their training related to the systems in the cockpit with few exceptions. The ability to simulate real emergencies, such as fires, engines out, serious weather conditions or even previous aircraft accidents, is where the simulator really pays off.

"You can't do these on the real airplane unless it actually really happens and it's key to have the experience and training before an actual emergency occurs during missions," said Gary Smith, who works for Flight Safety Services Corp., the contractor that oversees the simulator. Smith is also a senior master sergeant and loadmaster with the 337th Airlift Squadron.

Aside from simulated emergencies, the C-5 simulator can also give crew the opportunity to "fly" in and out of locations worldwide including various environments.

Flight Safety Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Flight Safety International, is involved in simulator training for commercial aviation throughout the world. FSSC also provides most of the instruction for C-5 pilots, engineers and loadmasters with Crew Resource Management, refresher and upgrade training.