It may look alien, but a Hamilton‑built simulator is set to transform pilot training in Thailand. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill goes for a flight.
The fibreglass simulator in the workshop resembles a UFO
It looks like a UFO parked in an industrial unit on Ossie James Drive in Hamilton Airport’s Titanium Park.
Within the fibreglass shell sits a Hawker 800XP cockpit so authentic that even the seats are salvaged from the original aircraft.
This is Integrated Simulators’ (iSim) latest creation: a full motion flight simulator, designed and built in Hamilton for export overseas.
Founder Oleg Roud, who moved to New Zealand from Namibia in 2017, calls it a milestone for both iSim and New Zealand’s engineering sector.
Vince Lamont pilots the simulator into Auckland Airport. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Vince Lamont pilots the simulator into Auckland Airport. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“To my knowledge, this level of simulator has not yet been made in either New Zealand or Australia,” he says.
iSim Ltd specialises in tailor‑made simulators for general aviation aircraft – Hawkers, Cessnas, and helicopters – rather than large airliners.
Past projects include a mobile simulator for Westpac Trust, housed in a trailer that tours the country, and bespoke builds for clients in Fiji, Africa, and Europe.
Waikato Business News January 2026
The company’s latest commission is for a Thai aviation training provider.
Roud explains that each simulator begins with meticulous data capture.
“We fly with pilots using special equipment to record how the aircraft behaves. We gather documentation, talk to pilots about how they operate, and then design and manufacture everything ourselves.”
The Hamilton workshop is home to a diverse group of people. Roud, married to fellow company director Irina, is a former 747 pilot who got sick of staying in hotel rooms between flights.
He founded the simulator company and set up shop inside the Hamilton Airport Terminal. He had to move out last year when the airport company needed the space for its international flights.
The workshop team spans Waikato to Serbia: software engineer Vince Lamont (Tokoroa), electrical engineer Campbell Shepherd (Mt Maunganui), Serbian coder Alex Samoilov, and logistics specialist Ashton Homewood, a former Hillcrest High student.
The iSim team in front of the simulator, from left Vince Lamont, Oleg Roud, Campbell Shepherd, Alex Samoilov and Ashton Homewood. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Together they design hardware, write software, and assemble components made both locally – by firms such as Colin Engineering in Te Aroha – and overseas.
“We rely on local suppliers for most of the parts,” says Roud.
“They don’t always know what they’re making – just pieces of metal or fibreglass – but we turn them into a simulator.”
The company moved a year ago into a small unit in Ossie James Drive – named after the Waikato aviation pioneer who launched the aerial topdressing industry in the 1940s.
The News had a test flight in the simulator. Getting into the seat is just as tough as getting into a normal aircraft, Roud says.
Even buckling in created some issues: what buttons to touch and not to touch!
Our flight was out of Auckland. Videos can replicate any airport in the world, right down to the surrounding vegetation, rivers, lakes, sea and buildings.
The bumpiness was real too – hydraulic technology moves the simulator and the brain does the rest.
Simulators are not the only tool for pilots but they have increasingly become important to practice for emergencies and maintain skills. They are cost effective too. Crashing a simulator is a lot cheaper than an actual plane in the event of an engine failure.
Packed and ready for shipment to Thailand, the Hamilton‑made simulator signals not just a breakthrough for iSim, but proof that Kiwi engineering can compete on the world stage.
What began as a flying saucer in a hangar is now bound for Thailand – proof that Kiwi engineering can take on the world.
The simulator cockpit mirrors a real Hawker 800XP one, even down to the seats. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The simulator cockpit mirrors a real Hawker 800XP one, even down to the seats Vince Lamont, left, and senior writer Mary Anne Gill are sitting in on the simulated Auckland Airport tarmac.
