Airhawks Flying Club dedicated a new flight simulator this weekend

||| BY EDEE KULPER, theORCASONIAN REPORTER |||

A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony was held by the Airhawks Flying Club at the Eastsound Airport for their new Gleim FAA-approved Flight Simulator. As students, educators, administrators, and teachers from Orcas High School and Orcas Christian School along with Orcas pilots and the Orcas Island Community Foundation watched, 9-year-old Douglas Kirby of Eastsound cut the ribbon to officially access the simulator. Douglas then took the first flight with Airhawks founder Bob Waunch assisting. During the OICF Give Orcas campaign, Douglas withdrew $22 from his savings account, walked into the OICF office with his mom, reviewed the various nonprofit organizations, and chose to support the Airhawks simulator. The Airhawks wanted to make sure this young man would be the first to “fly” the simulator as thanks for his donation.

The simulator will be available to Airhawks students and members as well as all pilots in the San Juan Islands for credited primary, instrument, and refresher flight training. The simulator will allow students and rated pilots a significant cost savings. Information on how to access and utilize the system will be made available online at www.airhawks.org.

The simulator is “qualified” to allow pilots to log a limited amount of training time in lieu of actual time in an aircraft and to maintain their instrument currency. It features all flight controls, a touchscreen instrument panel, three 18-degree visual screens, an instructor station, and operates the X-Plane computer program that contains 14,000 US airports and a training syllabus. The instructor can also select a variety of aircraft problems and weather conditions as well as record flights for training review.

Airhawks Flying Club is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. However, Airhawks is more than just a flying club. It supports STEM education for island students and through a selection process it provides scholarships to qualified youths (ages 15-18) who want to learn to fly, adults considering careers in aviation, and others who want to learn to fly. Airhawks graduates include local Air Ambulance pilots, military pilots, military academy students, charter and airline pilots, local Mercy pilots who transport patients off-island for medical treatment, and a variety of pilots who have gone on to fly in various parts of the world.