USA University Welcomes Canadian Flight Training Device

Canadian flight training device manufacturer Flightdeck Solutions (FDS) has delivered its B737 MAX device to the University Of Central Missouri (UCM) School Of Aviation in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Slated to replace an older, no longer functioning B737 trainer from another supplier, the FDS-B737MAX-FTD device was put into immediate action for advanced procedural, flight, and systems training after the fall 2022 installation at the school’s Raleigh T. Gaines Technology Building.

In addition, Flightdeck Solutions’ VP Of Technical Services Steven Cos surprised the school by restoring functionality to the older B737 trainer.  “Flightdeck Solutions did a great job setting up the Boeing 737 MAX, and they got the other one running about 90 percent,” said Matthew Furedy, chair of the Department of Aviation.  This now enables UCM to continue using the older flight simulator to accommodate additional training needs in the busy department. “We’ve got a few more things to be fixed on it, but we essentially went from not having one (FTD) to having two,” Furedy added.

Representatives of the aviation program and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs held a ribbon cutting ceremony in November to celebrate the launch of the device, calling the FDS trainer “a welcome addition to the professional pilot training program” and describing the device as “extremely immersive” drawing student pilots in “with such authenticity, sometimes they forget they are in a simulator”.

Juan Robles, a senior professional pilot major at the school explained that the FDS device provides “a way to put to use everything that is taught in other courses related to topics such as pilot resource management, crew resource management, and human factors associated with flying.”