I have for the past several months been intrigued by the new Redbird FMX an FAA certified Advanced Aviation Training Device. Very few of the Redbirds have made it to the field and I thought finding one would be difficult.  The very helpful Redbird website pointed me to a device at Pottstown Municipal Airport (N47) in Pottstown PA just a 40 minute ride from my office.  I contacted the good folks at TNT Air Inc. the FBO at the field and the operator of the Redbird.  The gentleman who answered the phone thought my request for about 30 minutes of sim time was a bit weird but nonetheless they accommodated me.  

As a former airline captain I have flown the most sophisticated simulators and as a former flight instructor I have used the least capable, barely adequate devices on the market.  I am aware that the quality of the low end training devices has greatly improved over the years but I have not flown one recently.  The Redbird FMX seems to be competitively priced with other top end AATDs and has something the others do not  - Motion. 

During a few minutes of wait time while the computer booted up we sat in the box and discussed what I wanted to do.  I asked for a VFR take off and climb, a reposition to ORD (for old times sake)  and then a reposition back to home to shoot the ILS 36 approach at KRGD (Reading, PA).  Before starting up Steve handed me the Redbird Pilot Key, an USB thumb drive used for tailoring the flight to the pilot.  Theoretically each pilot flying the FMX is issued one of these and therefore always has his pilot records handy.  We just used the generic company key.  We started the engine and taxied out.

The Redbird handled on the ground as I expected - like we were taxiing on ice.  This is common to all the simulators I've flown and this was no worse than the multimillion dollar devices the airlines use.  The take off was uneventful and we climbed to 3000' while I struggled to get a handle on the G1000.  A little instruction on the panel and some familiarization with the aircraft followed.  It was set up to mimic a C-182 a type I have not flown for quite awhile.  Next we were off to ORD where I flew a visual approach to 27R.  The 200 degree field of vision generated by the six LCD panels made the circling maneuver a breeze.  Perhaps the FAA might want to rethink their policy of not authorizing AATDs for circling maneuvers.  The Redbird is as visually capable as the airline simulators I flew in the early to mid 1990's.  A safe but ugly landing terminated with a touch and go which accurately mimicked the handling characteristics of the C-182 class of aircraft.  I say class of aircraft because AATDs are not required to reproduce any particular aircraft but rather a class of aircraft.  

A quick reposition to Reading, PA while I briefed the ILS 36 approach and then we were flying again on vectors to the ILS final as issued by controller Steve.  Once again the flying was uneventful with the Redbird behaving just as I expect a light general aviation aircraft to behave.  Steve had the ceiling set for 200' and we broke out with the runway in sight.  We landed at RDG, taxied off the runway and shut her down.   I left the box with a smile on my face.

The motion is three axis and is electrically powered.  I can't say that I put it to the test in any great way, but I could feel it was working as I experienced g-forces during the flight that were quite similar to those one would experience in the aircraft.  With only three axis of motion and the constraints of fitting under an 8' ceiling the motion was bound to be limited, but despite this it was sufficient to impart a very realistic feel to flight, helped no doubt by the exceptional visual system.  

There were of course negatives but mostly in the way of limitations to the device's abilities, not the lack of ability.  The bottom line is that I was extremely impressed by the device.  I would be perfectly comfortable maintaining instrument currency and performing IPCs in the Redbird FMX.