The keys to the Simulator are kept in the Key Box in the office, they are roughly in the centre on the right side and have a yellow tag marked Sim.

You may want to take a good battery powered LED worklight of some sort.

The simulator is generally left plugged in to the clubhouse.

If you crash during your session you may need to reboot and re-run this process to reset the servo feel system. To circumvent this, It is suggested that height recovery is enabled in task NOTAM settings and to press the Q Height Recovery button a split second before any crash.

Once you have gained access to the simulator, switch on the power distribution system using two circuit breakers.

The PC will power up and the lights on the front may flash during self test and will then go out again.

Power up the PC by pressing the power on button.  (the red marking points to it).

The PC will eventually boot to Windows 10. All of the monitors should switch on and the Windows desktop should be split across all three screens.  If any of the screens are still off when the Windows Desktop has loaded you will need to find the matching remote and switch it on.  This is fairly easy as the screen brand name is marked on them, and they are all different.

The rear seat pilot’s keyboard has a power switch on the back.  Switch this ON (switch towards the Sim door that you probably came in through),

Start the cockpit instruments for the glider type you will be using. At the moment all of the Free Instruments icons start the same k13 instruments.  Double click the FreeCondorInstruments Icon (highlighted in the pic below).  After a short while the instruments will be displayed.

Start the Servo feel system.  Double Click on the UDPServo Icon.  A screen will appear and display a count of increasing numerical value. As this count progresses through 6000 the control column will start to move forward.  Once the count stops the system is ready to use.

 The count will stop after a few seconds and the system will display Waiting for UDP messages, the system is ready to use.

Finally, click on the Condor 3 icon to run the Condor gliding simulator.

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The Condor program will load, you are free to choose how to use it, but in general there will be pre-defined tasks that will setup the landscape and weather conditions; one can choose the task that is most appropriate for the type of flying planned. These pre-defined tasks are accessed via the Free Flight option.

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Use the LOAD button on the TASK page.

Choose User Flightplans to get a list of plans saved to the Simulator computer.  This list will expand significantly in the near future. Hopefully there will be some guidance about what each task might offer.

Once the task is selected, select OK, in some cases the task will be locked and you will not be able to change the settings. In other cases you will be able to change the weather, glider type, task turnpoints etc.

Click Start Flight.

It may take a while for the landscape to load (5 minutes or more).

Once the system is loaded, and the glider is in the air, hit the ESCape key to get the Start Flight menu and use the mouse to select Start Flight.

Toggle CTRL F1 a couple of times to remove the control panel from the on screen display whilst leaving the yaw string visible, the student should use the “proper” virtual instrument panel inside the glider.

• To Shutdown the simulator.   Crash, or land the glider.
  
• Hit the Escape key.  back out of the Condor menus and choose Exit.
  
• Go to the Windows menu and shutdown the computer
  
• Switch off the rear seat keyboard and the two mains power breakers.

END OF QUICK START GUIDE

But here are some additional items to check.

Once Condor 2 is running there are a number of Setup items to check as these may be prone to change by users.

Condor 2 setup is not particularly extensive so just the menu or selector names are provided. Screen shots are only provided where the setting might be very hard to find.

• Ensure the altimeter is set as required, either to QFE or QNH.

• SETUP - Options - Instruments - Altimeter setting.  Usually set to QFE.

In general it is easiest to load a pre-defined task that most closely matches the flight that you wish to carry out along with the weather / time of day. After loading the task it is worth double checking that you have the settings you expect.  Key items that can be altered/checked are.

To load a task choose the FREE FLIGHT option and when the FLIGHT PLANNER screen is displayed use the LOAD button and then USER FLIGHTPLANS window to select a task from those available on the PC.

After loading a task, review the TASK, WEATHER, HANGAR and NOTAM tabs, this will provide you with the additional information that you need for the task.  For example.

• The glider start location, time of day and whether any task has been set.

• FREE FLIGHT - TASK

• The glider type is as expected and you have the desired C of G and ballast.

• FREE FLIGHT - HANGAR.

• The WEATHER has the correct wind, turbulence, thermals and wave.

• FREE FLIGHT - WEATHER - (Wind - Thermals - Waves - High Clouds)

• The flight specific settings are as required.

• FREE FLIGHT - NOTAM
• Ensure that the correct launch type is set. In general one would start airborne in order to practice an exercise.
• For the Realism column, all of the ticks should be ON for training and thermal helpers set to about 10 Kms.