Flying High, Virtually

The cockpit and avionics are a one-to-one replica of a modern Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which is one of the most prominent general aviation aircraft. Joel Hallberg/College of Engineering

There’s a growing student interest in aerospace engineering, as well as strong career prospects in the aerospace industry. That’s one reason UW mechanical engineering professor Christian Franck and teaching specialist Aidan Butula ’23, MS’24 built a state-of-the-art flight simulator, housed in the College of Engineering’s Flight Simulator Laboratory.

Its cockpit and avionics are a one-to-one replica of a modern Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which is one of the most prominent general aviation aircraft. A licensed pilot with an aerospace engineering background, Franck drew on his extensive experience flying the Skyhawk to help create a simulator with a realistic look, functionality, and feel. It has wraparound screens to provide a 180-degree view, creating an immersive experience that feels like sitting in a real cockpit.

Franck plans to use the simulator, which he expects will receive Federal Aviation Administration certification, for an interactive learning experience in his course Flight Dynamics and Controls.

“Students learn the physics of controlling a flying aircraft in three-dimensional space,” he says. “Some of these concepts can be difficult to understand just from working on math problems. My goal with the new flight simulator is to add a strong hands-on learning component to the course to enable students to gain a better intuitive understanding of the physics and math they’re learning, where the students can directly experience how the equations apply to aircraft control.”

The custom-built simulator includes additional components, such as a display that gives real-time flight performance data, allowing students to analyze the stability of the aircraft and verify their calculations. Among its many potential uses, it could help students in design projects to analyze the performance of new types of experimental aircraft.

“There’s an appetite for establishing a full aerospace engineering major at UW–Madison,” Franck says, “and I think the flight simulator is an important step on that path.”

Published in the Summer 2025 issue