I was flying with a Gulfstream "intern" as they call them, but he is an ATP with G550 PIC type which is all encompassing with the g400/450/550 (I think the 350 as well). This was all just part of a tour I took at their Savannah, GA facility. We briefed about the call outs and systems before hand and he walked me through some more during the flight, showing me various fancy features. I was by no means doing any real training, those systems were beyond me at this point. I was catching on pretty well with loading up the FMS and selecting all the speeds and altitudes needed. While they were advanced, I could definitely see how easy they can make life once you understood them. It's nice being able to mouse over and click off items on the checklist as you do them, or have the hydraulic system diagram and pressures pop up on the MFD when you go to test your brakes. Not to mention the HUD or synthetic vision.
I was actually surprised at how strong some of the control pressures were while hand flying though, if you weren't trimming at/before you moved the yoke, you fell behind super quick and had your arms full. I was also caught off guard by the approach speed, it was hard to tell the difference until under 300 ft and then the runway seemed to be running up at you. Again, the control pressure necessary to flare and land the thing without trimming it from the approach speed were much greater than expected. I wasn't expecting an F16 but I thought it would be a little lighter to the touch.
It didn't move because I didn't feed the machine any dollars
. You gotta pay to sway, I guess. (Free tour for a poor aviation student, no need for all the bells and whistles)
Lastly, that's just a google pic, I didn't get an actual one but the room was neat. 4 massive sims side by side, all twisting and turning various directions. They were huge, full sized cockpits with jump seats and the control center behind that. You entered from a walkway about 8-10 ft off the ground, the picture must not do it justice.
