At 16, his teenage bedroom was almost entirely occupied by a cockpit Boeing 737 tinkered. Twelve years later, simulators Gabriel Barresia 28-year-old Argentinian aerospace engineer, equips training centers like ProFlightpartner of the company JetSmart. The story of an enthusiast who transformed a geek project into a working tool for professional pilots.
Originally from General Rocain southern Argentina, he founded VSIMa company that manufactures professional flight simulators for Boeing 737 and training aircraft. Between DIY on a washing machine at 2 years old, burned prototype and vertical integration like an industrial start-up, his journey fascinates simulation fans as much as flight schools.
At 16, his bedroom Boeing 737 simulator started it all
The passion of Gabriel Barresi dates back to when he was 2 years old, when he was already simulating flights while sitting on his grandmother’s washing machine. At the age of 15, he assembled his first homemade flight simulator at home. A year later, he took the delirium much further: a complete cabin of Boeing 737 settles into his room, to the point of almost making the bed disappear under the panels and screens.
He posts photos of this Boeing 737 simulator in his room on Facebook, without imagining the snowball effect. Enthusiasts from Scotland and the United States then ordered cabins from him, which he manufactured alongside high school. His first prototype burned, but he started again, learning design on YouTube and relying on a contact in Bariloche equipped with a laser cutter to refine engravings and panels.
VSIM: how Gabriel Barresi’s simulators appeal to flight schools
Graduate in aerospace engineering fromNational University of La Plata, Gabriel Barresi structured VSIM like an industrial workshop General Roca. The company designs electronics, structures and software in-house, which allows it, he says, to achieve “a vertical integration that allows us to compete at the same price as imported products”, he explained to the media LMNeuquén. This mastery serves a clear objective: to avoid “negative training”, when an approximate simulator teaches bad reflexes, and to provide machines suitable for certification FTD4 of theANAC for centers like ProFlightthe largest pilot training school in Argentina.
How much do VSIM simulators cost and what they bring to future pilots
The single-engine simulator VSIM reproduces a Cessna 172 with avionics Garmin G1000designed for flying clubs and flight schools. Customizable, it costs between €14,720 and €15,640. Above, the double cockpit Cessna Citation Mustang offers a field of view of more than 140°, a triple 4K screen and feedback controls sized to shoot up to 20 hours a day. Installed in an approved center and supervised by an instructor holding an EGDI license, these simulators allow official flight hours to be recorded, a key argument for flight schools.