Retired pilot flies around the world from his backyard

Camrose, Alberta, native Bob Roberts retired from recreational flying 10 years ago, but his departure from the skies hasn’t, technically, stopped him from flying.

With the help of Ontario-based Flightdeck Solutions (FDS), Roberts built a full-scale Boeing 737 Max simulator (FDS-B737MAX-FTD) in his backyard. And since the installation in November 2021, he’s banked almost 150 hours to destinations like Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Hawaii.

The simulator — dubbed CamAir, after the city he calls home — was a passion project that began turning heads across Canada and among the aviation community after Roberts was encouraged to reach out to a local news publication.

“Everything in the news these days is about Covid; I thought maybe people would like to read something positive,” he said. “I went to the local paper, they wrote a little article… three days later, The National called me, and that was the start of it all,” Roberts told Skies.

As news traveled of his backyard adventures, a local air cadet lieutenant commander also reached out, asking if the students could come fly the sim. Roberts said he’ll begin mentoring the squadron once things settle down with the pandemic.   

To date, many people have tested the controls of CamAir’s state-of-the-art flight deck.  

Roberts, who earned his private pilot license at the age of 18, grins when asked to share where he found his love for aviation. He recalled pedaling his bike in his youth to Deer Lake Regional Airport in Newfoundland “to watch the jets land and take off.

“[I remember] they had one runway and a 737-200 flew in once a week. I couldn’t understand how [the planes] could fly; they were just so big,” he laughed.

Fascinated, the boy fell in love with the “physics and the math behind it all.” And soon, he was flying model airplanes and daydreaming of a future in the sky.

In 1996, along with a partner, Roberts built a Zenith Zodiac CH 601 HDS in his garage.

“[It was] all aluminum with rivets, no fabric; it took us two years and four months to build it,” he recalled.

Roberts, who was employed at Syncrude Canada at the time, would come home each day and work on the plane in his garage until midnight. With an eye on the prize, he was eager for this bird to spread its wings.

Over the course of his 30-year flying career, Roberts piloted a Cessna 152 and 172, along with the Zodiac. Then, without previous airline experience, he used his spare time in retirement to train online to fly the Boeing 737 Max.  

“I call [the Boeing 737] the sports car of the airline industry,” he said. “And the Max [aircraft]… they’re a lot more complex. They’ve got a bigger display area. So, it’s just a nicer-feeling airplane to fly. The 737NGs [have] approximately six-inch screens, but [in the Max], it’s about a 15-inch screen. So, it’s a really nice airplane to sit in and maneuver around.”

Roberts took to YouTube to learn how to fly the Max. He studied hours of flight training tutorials posted by a pilot who also happened to be a Catholic priest in Yorkshire, England. Finally, after watching many hours of demonstrative videos, he was ready.

The aviation enthusiast reached out to FDS, and operation CamAir took flight.

According to FDS, the “full-scale representation of the aircraft’s revised large format ‘glass’ flight deck layout” includes the instrument panel, glare shield, aisle stand, primary, aft overhead, as well as flight controls and shell/interior and crew/observer seating.

“Despite our recent shift in focus to commercial customers, we certainly enjoy accommodating a few enthusiast customers like Bob throughout the year,” FDS told Skies. “Many private customers want to build a cockpit in stages, but Bob truly exemplified exceptional planning and dedication in this project, making him a real pleasure to deal with for our crews. He’s a real gem.”

And Roberts can’t speak highly enough about FDS’s seamless delivery and installation services.

The main instrument panel (MIP) showed up, “crushed by the carrier,” but it was swiftly returned and replaced. Soon afterwards, FDS sent its very own Steve Cos to help Roberts get CamAir operational.

“He was extremely helpful, and we did a lot of flying before he left,” said Roberts. “[Cos] came here for four days and stayed at my house as a guest,” he quipped.

The pair, along with Roberts’ brother, became fast friends as they worked until the wee hours of the morning. The CamAir project took 18 months to complete.

“I got the cockpit, nose, liners, and pedestals all motorized,” said Roberts. “You can get the lower version, but I decided to go with the pro version of everything. It has motorized throttles . . . [and] trim. It works exactly like a real Max.”

Roberts is already planning a “huge upgrade” this April. “[Right now], I’ve got standard 1080p projectors, which will be replaced with 4K projectors.”

He admits it’s a big investment, but it’s worth it for a “whole new show altogether.”

Utilizing the sim’s high-level avionics, coupled with virtual air traffic control groups like the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network and PilotEdge, Roberts can receive realistic weather and traffic control.

“You actually talk to real people,” he explained. “They’re in their homes with air traffic simulation installed on their computers, so they can see your plane. And you talk to them, just like you would to a regular air traffic controller.”

When asked where his flight path will take him next, Roberts admitted he doesn’t plan ahead.

“I don’t know yet… [for] today,” he said. “I’ll figure something out. But my brother is coming down on the weekend, and we’re going to fly to Hawaii.”