OT: For the wannabe rampies...

[keithb77 311]

This looks interesting...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2088630/Airport_Ground_Handling_Simulator_VR/

Consumer version of pro software by Aviar

Edited August 26, 2022 by keithb77

[psolk 3,057]

Looks different and interesting thanks for sharing!

[bobcat999 8,504]

Looks like @Chock has finally made it into the simulator!  

[Snuffleupagus 328]

This is what nightmares are made of…. Haha (former ramp and line guy)

[Chock 17,769]

If you have a VR headset and want to get about as close to being on the ramp messing around with a real airliner as you can may wish, then this is essentially the same software as the (considerably more expensive) Aviar training software with a gaming EULA on the front end as a bit of a disclaimer. Graphically, since it is meant for real-world job training, the models of the aeroplanes are about as close as you can get to the real thing in terms of switches, panels, levers, buttons and all that malarkey, because they have to be, so if you fancy working all that stuff in exactly the same way you do on the real things with very accurate models of all the bits on the A320 and the B737, then this might interest you.

This Steam version is early access, so it still doesn't yet have all of the stuff the full on pro training versions of this software have (i.e. pushbacks are not yet in this version, but will apparently be added at a later date). It does have all the other stuff such as marshalling aeroplanes on stand, doing arrival walkaround checks, connecting various bits of GSE such as FEPs, air starter hoses etc, operating the cargo doors, doing pre-departure walkaround checks etc, and these cover the Airbus A320 and the B737, so if you wanted to know what doing all that stuff is like on the ramp, this would actually give you a good idea. Since it is based on the pro training software, it has 'exams' after all the training scenarios, which is kind of where the game aspect comes into it I guess, in seeing how well you did and whether you 'passed'. this is not dissimilar to a lot of the real training in terms of how you get signed off for stuff.

For the full-on simulated-in-your own-home ramp experience however, after doing the arrival checks and putting the FEP on in this software, I'd recommend then getting your girlfriend/wife/partner to pack absolutely everything she owns and absolutely does not need to take on holiday, into a massive suitcase to the point where it can barely be closed, needs duct tape to keep it shut, and weighs about as much as a motorbike. For added realism, pour something horrible onto the case, such as a four-week-old curry which has been left in the sun, so the case smells really bad too. You can also try snapping one of the wheels off the case to make it harder to move, or perhaps breaking the handle a bit so it has a dangerously sharp wire or perhaps a very pointed rusty bolt sticking out of it which might easily cut your hand and get it infected.

Now pick this case up, carry it up a flight of stairs, put it down, then immediately pick it up again, carry it back downstairs, put it down. Repeat this a further 200 times, then get about six more cases of equivalent weight, go inside a really small cupboard with very little headroom, then try to stack these cases on top of one another without hurting your back. Allow yourself no more than ten minutes for this task.

Next, give yourself no more than thirty seconds to do an entire pre-departure walkaround whilst the anti-collision light is already flashing on the airliner, then having done this, tune into a foreign radio station news broadcast, to simulate trying to understand a pilot whose English is not very good, as you go through the pushback and engine start procedure with a massive language barrier, or if you prefer, imagine the headset is broken and use hand signals instead whilst backing up forty feet away from the aeroplane to try and get to an angle where the pilot is not obscured by reflections on the rain-soaked cockpit windows which keep doing that purple rainbow effect which laminated airliner glass does, so you can't see through it at all.

For added additional realism, sit in a bucket of water to simulate having sat on the soaking wet seat of a belt loader, then throw more water all over yourself to simulate being out in the rain for six hours. Rush into the kitchen at some point, eat a bag of crisps in about twenty seconds or some other unhealthy snack you might get from a vending machine, then do the entire process all over again until about 12 hours have passed, then pretend to drive home for about six hours of sleep before getting up and doing it all again. After four weeks, pay yourself the kind of wage a Victorian chimney-sweep would be disappointed with. 🤣

Edited August 26, 2022 by Chock

[mwilk 1,107]

Unless it simulates standing in a deicing bucket in 30 kt winds with a windchill of -20 degrees F and propylene glycol spraying back in your face, then it's not realistic enough.

[Snuffleupagus 328]

Oh! And for the cherry on top, the plane has a maintenance issue, delays boarding until it’s deemed ok, then you grab the wheelchairs and load up a few people who you don’t even know how they fit in a wheelchair in the first place, have your legs feeling like jello after pushing them up a “Z Ramp”, get the air start and GPU hooked up (all massive carts because the airline is too cheap to use a jetway), and you’ve loaded the plane with everything listed above, the pilot walks down and lets you know he just timed out and there are no other crews nearby… 🎉

Edited August 26, 2022 by Hatch76

[mwilk 1,107]

Chock, when I tried to explain what I did for a living, I would tell people to take everything they own, stuff it in their luggage, climb under their dining room table and stack that luggage up a few hundred times. That's how I spend my days.