Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- A new flight simulator at Wasilla's airport will allow pilots to practice flying the area's notoriously changeable conditions before actually taking to the skies.

The aviation training device sits on a desk at the airport's pilot shack, courtesy of the Medallion Foundation, an Anchorage-based nonprofit that promotes statewide aviation safety. Medallion presents a public orientation for the device to the public from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

About 5,000 -- nearly half of Alaska's 12,000 pilots -- live within a 50-mile radius of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said Medallion spokeswoman Marina Carey Jarvis. That area includes slices of the Anchorage municipality such as Birchwood, which has an airport of its own.

The device gives pilots "a tool to practice maneuvers, scenarios, just refresh themselves before they get in their own plane without taking any risks," said Carey Jarvis. "That's our goal -- to minimize your risk and be aware of your risk when you fly."

A pilot could, say, simulate a flight from Wasilla to Mount McKinley, flying Hatcher Pass, Windy Pass and Broad Pass. They can program foul weather, darkness, driving snow -- even engine failure, she said.

The City of Wasilla spent no money on the simulator project, but officials support having the device. A session in the trainer is free. Pilots just need to log onto Medallion's Web site -- www.MedallionFoundation.org -- and schedule a time. Medallion operates 13 training devices around Alaska that are funded with federal dollars.

If Medallion finds that Wasilla pilots are maxing out the training device, the nonprofit would consider putting one at Palmer's airport, Carey Jarvis said. To get to Friday's event, turn onto Museum Drive, right at Beacon Street, which becomes West Aviation Avenue and turn into the second airport gate.

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