Learning without the risk  Coastal's simulator makes for lower-
cost training  Posted: Thursday, December 05, 2002  Håkon
Såtvedt, a pilot for Coastal Helicopters, ran into some trouble
during a flight Tuesday afternoon. He was struggling with engine
failure, low fuel, and extremely rough conditions, and couldn't
hold the machine steady enough to land.  "Oooh ... oh, he's done
for," said John Garrard, a Coastal pilot who was monitoring
Såtvedt's flight. When Såtvedt crashed nose-first into the
ground, though, he walked away unscathed, leaving no broken
machinery or burning ruins.  Såtvedt was testing his flying
skills in a professional helicopter simulator, the first of its
kind in Alaska. Coastal Helicopters bought the simulator from
FLYIT, a company in Carlsbad, Calif., last month.  The simulator
allows pilots to do a large amount of flight training without
leaving Coastal's hangar at Juneau Airport. The custom-made
device, which Coastal ordered last spring, is designed to
imitate the AS350 B2 helicopters th