US University Boosts Airliner-Based Training with Flightdeck

Canadian Flight Training Device manufacturer Flightdeck Solutions (FDS) has installed a second B737 MAX device at Western Michigan University (WMU).  The full-scale simulator was shipped in June 2022, joining its previously installed FDS B737 MAX sibling at the school’s College Of Aviation Battle Creek campus in Michigan.

With an enrollment growth of approximately 80% over the past 10 years, and the recent opening of the College's 22-million-dollar Aviation Education Center, updating and expanding the offerings in the program’s Line Orientated Flight Training course was the correct evolutionary step.

"With the added students in the professional pilot program, and the growth in our aviation maintenance degree, adding a more sophisticated simulator was necessary," stated Ray Thompson, College of Aviation Interim Dean.  "These are the types of equipment our students are going to engage with, so it was imperative for us to provide them the tools to make them the most industry-ready graduates possible."