Fly the (virtual) friendly skies at the West Memphis Airport

Fly the (virtual) friendly skies at the West Memphis Airport

New flight simulator provides realistic pilot training

news@theeveningtimes.com Interest in an all-new flight simulator at the West Memphis Airport has taken off.

The simulator is so good that the Federal Aviation Administration counts time in the trainer as actual flight time. Student pilots like the simulator because it is cheaper than flight time, saving on fuel and other expenses.

Green Wings Aviation makes its flight school base at the local airport and now offers Red Bird Simulations. Owner William Green says the location here provides a competitive advantage over other flight schools in the Mid-South.

“West Memphis has the best airspace in the Memphis area,” said Green emphatically. “There are four other major airports that are used for flight training. The problem with the other airports is they are all in controlled airspace. It makes training more difficult because you have to spend a lot of time flying away from the controlled airspace. You pay for your lesson per hour and if you spend thirty minutes of your lesson navigating away from the airport you are wasting time. Here we can spend five minutes flying away from the airport and get right into the lesson.”

The West Memphis Airport is ideal for a flight school. Local pilots fly mostly on the weekends. There are daily a few corporate jets in and out along with air ambulance services ferrying patients to and from the hospital district in Memphis. That gives Green Wings a great practice field.

“There are five or six jet flights a day, so there are not a lot of problems doing a lot of take off and landing practice,” said Green. “We are in a pattern by ourselves, we don’t have to worry about other people pulling out in front of us. It’s a quiet, likable airport.”

The certified flight instructor had been around aircraft all his life and the pull brought him away from climbing a traditional career ladder into being an entrepreneur at the West Memphis Airport. “I’ve flown my whole life, my father got me into it,” said Green. “I realized I didn’t want to work in the job I was trained for in college. I looked at West Memphis one day when I was getting current again. I said this airport is such a great location and every time I’m driving to another airport that I really dislike, Why isn’t there anyone doing anything in West Memphis? I decided, I should do this.”

Green Wings has a lineup of training aircraft and offers a wide array for pilot advancement.

“I have two Piper Cherokees, a Beechcraft Travel Air, and a Cessna 150,” said Green.

Flight time in the Cessna is the most economical at $105 per hour, because it burns the least fuel in the trainer fleet. But even more economical is the simulator. Flight instructors enjoy the safety of a the simulator especially with brand new students. Green touted the simulator for safety and compared the experience to driver’s education.

“You can log enough time to teach your instruments for private piloting,” said Green. “It’s a great teaching tool. I can get people in for an affordable price and teach them instruments, controls, everything without anyone damaging anything, because that first two hours of flight training with any new student is always very intense for the instructor. What is the student going to do, run off the runway or damage the engine? It’s like a car, we aren’t steering anymore.”

Green made a substantial investment bringing the simulator to West Memphis. It has been part of the pilot training package for about three months. Given the equipment and airspace that allows for learning all the maneuvers a short distance from the base, Green holds sky high hopes for expanding enrollment “I’ve put everything into the business,” said Green.

“We’ve had the simulator for three months. We are seeing it gain momentum with an increase in students. The more advanced students put a lot more time in the simulator. We offer a bulk package for the similar depending on how many hours they can put toward the their license they can get a substantial discount.”

Green said he likes to make instruction personable training.

“We keep track of the student and for the most parts stays with one instructor the whole way through their license,” said Green.

“We get to know our students and they really befriend us. “It doesn’t feel like a business.”

Those interested in learning to fly can check out Green Wings on Facebook or call William Green at (901) 238-0586.

By John Rech