Newark: Retired plane to become student flight simulator

The Airbus 318 will be transformed into an A320 Neo as part of a new £15.4m aviation facility

A retired passenger plane is being transformed into a training aircraft, as part of a new £15.4m facility.

The Airbus 318 at the Air and Space Institute in Newark will give engineering students real hands-on experience of working on an aircraft.

The fuselage was salvaged from scrap and made a 110-mile (177km) journey from Cotswold Airport to the facility.

The Nottinghamshire Institute hope to delivers a "world-class training facility" for 200 students each year.

The Air and Space Institute aims to deliver a "world-class training facility" for about 200 students each year

Jim Newell, from Newark College, said it was "amazing, staggering, and a little bit bizarre" to have the former passenger plane in its hangar.

"This is the future of training for young people in Newark, getting them ready for careers as pilots, engineers, space engineers, cabin crew. It's a fantastic opportunity for them," he said.

"They're going to convert this into essentially a fully working aircraft so that our engineering students can get under the fuselage and get some real hands-on experience.

"The cabin crew will be in a live environment where all the electrics work - just like stepping on an aeroplane for your holiday," he added.

The old cockpit has been stripped ready for the flight simulator to be installed

Graham Duff, who is leading the simulator project, said the team hoped to rebuild the plane in eight months, with the exact replica of an Airbus 320 Neo cockpit.

"Our job is to convert, what is effectively a scrapped aeroplane that's had everything ripped out, back into a working flight, simulating an exact equivalent of the real aeroplane," he said. "I'm really jealous. I had a cardboard cut-out in my bedroom. So the fact students are going to be able to use a fully working simulator at college is unbelievable," he added.

Ellie, who hopes to become a pilot, said the flight simulator would help her on her course

Ellie, a 16-year-old student at Newark College, who hopes to become a pilot, said she was "excited" to get onboard the plane.

"It's something completely different and innovative," she said.

"The cockpit will have all the latest design. It's going to be really helpful for me in the future because I can familiarise myself.

"There's nothing else like this nearby. I really struggled for what I can do to become a pilot. It's a great opportunity," she added.

Students are currently undergoing flight and engineer training at an interim facility at the group's Newark College campus.