Exhibition ‘Gimmick’ Spawns New Business 

The UK company's booth was swamped with visitors eager to try its 'Top Gun Experience', a low-level-flying time trial that paired a video game with VR goggles and a six-axis motion simulator.

The genesis of the idea stemmed from a local Scouts visit to the Skysmart facilities, at which the local gliding club set up a basic simulator; after this Jones spent five months upgrading the experience with a motion rig and VR display.

"It was a gimmick for the show but it's gone so well that we are going to jump into selling, distributing, building and maintaining them," says Sam Jones, the Skysmart engineer who built the system.

A future iteration of the system will see the hydraulically activated motion simulator integrated with realistic cockpit controls for pilot training, but with screens replacing VR goggles so trainees can see what their hands are doing.

Skysmart hopes to offer its full-motion simulators for training and other services before the second half of 2025, marketing the products through a new subsidiary called Smartmotion.