If these training tools are so valuable, why have so many flight schools relegated them to some dark back room? And why have they let their sims and associated equipment fall into disrepair?
Some say that sims are hidden away to avoid distracting pilots who just want to play. But perhaps the real answer is more closely related to the attitudes of instructors towards them. Many instructors believe that sims are toy-like, and that their controls are far too sensitive. They complain that they don't fly like real airplanes, and their visuals - if they have any - are usually no better than the old Pong games from the 1970s.
Obviously, these are the misconceptions of instructors who have not yet experienced The Power of Sim. Plain cockpit facsimiles do not dissuade astute instructors. They understand that sims may not look exactly like aircraft cockpits, but they also understand that the controls are fully functional. They realize that sim controls are sensitive, but they also realize that this helps a pilot develop a light touch. And they
know that even if sims don't have realistic visuals, they do have something far more valuable to pilots - realistic aerodynamics. Thus, experienced instructors view sims for what they really are - extremely valuable training devices.
The World Of Sim
Sims are unique. You can create perilous abnormal situations and emergencies in a sim that would be impossible to duplicate safely in a real aircraft - and do it without damaging the aircraft systems or structure. As a bonus, you don't need to worry about violating the federal aviation regulations or dealing with ATC. Best of all, you can repeat these training scenarios until the student understands and demonstrates the proper responses.
But sims have other benefits - they save both time and money. Nowhere is the economic value of sims more apparent than in multiengine training. Students can practice almost every multiengine procedure in a sim at a fraction of the cost of the real aircraft.
Because an instructor can instantly position a sim almost anywhere, they maximize training time. In a sim, students can easily make two or three times as many instrument approaches per hour, compared to a real aircraft. This allows students to practice each task or maneuver until they master it.
Instructors can freeze a sim in flight, temporarily relieving students of the distraction of flying. During this time, you can give constructive criticism and critique. You can direct a student's attention to specific instruments or tasks, review just-completed tasks, or discuss upcoming tasks. This feature, coupled with the plotter (which prints the flight path), gives students instant feedback on their performance at all times.
These are just some of the uses and benefits of sim training that are common knowledge to instructors familiar with the technology. But clever instructors find new ways to use these versatile devices. They use sims as they were designed to be used - to teach almost any procedural, decisional, or perceptual-motor task in flight training.
Lists
Sims are great for teaching procedural tasks, such as using a checklist. Unfortunately, most instructors unwittingly teach their students to use the checklist as a "do list," which is like a shopping list - buy oatmeal and ice cream. If a pilot blindly follows a checklist as a do list, it no longer acts as a backup for the pilot's memory. It loses its value as a redundancy tool.
To teach proper checklist usage, have students rely on memory to configure the sim for the particular phase of flight. Then have them consult the checklist to verify that they've done all the checklist items. For example, after leveling off and accelerating to cruise airspeed, students should be able to set the throttles, props, mixtures, cowl flaps, trim, boost pumps, exterior lights, and whatever the aircraft requires without scanning the checklist. When they are done, ask them to consult the checklist for verification.
Housekeeping
Sims are great for teaching the somewhat personal subject of cockpit resource management. A resource is simply any information, equipment, or person that is available to the pilot in command.
To begin with, sims provide a quiet, relaxed environment in which to teach the basics of communication and navigation radio use and management. With a sim's fully functional cockpit, instructors can use the sim to explain the function and use of every knob, switch, and button on communication and navigation radios and audio control panels.
If the sim has radios with a flip-flop frequency selection button, students can enter the primary and standby frequencies into each radio depending on the particular approach being flown or phase of flight.
Further, you can teach cockpit organization. Students can optimize the locations of simple items like charts, note pads, timers, and pens for ease of use. They can develop individual organizational styles and systems that work for them. They can evaluate different accessories. For example, students may find that an approach chart holder that clips onto the yoke obscures the heading indicator. Likewise, push-button ballpoint pens are much more convenient than those with caps.
Speech
Using proper radio phraseology is important. Pilots should know the meanings of VFR and IFR terms, such as "closed traffic" and "resume own navigation," as appropriate to the training they are receiving. They should know how to use the proper phraseology and feel at home when talking to ATC.
The sim gives students a safe, non-threatening environment where they can practice and hone their communication skills. However, instructors must be able to simulate ATC communications realistically. They should be able to create believable ATIS announcements from scratch. They should be able to give taxi instructions as a ground controller, and formulate a flyable IFR clearance. They should be able to simulate tower, radar departure, and final approach controllers. And they must give good radar vectors, even if they hated geometry class in school.
Instrument students will have the opportunity to practice copying and reading back clearances, contacting tower and departure controllers, and checking in after sector hand offs. Throughout these exchanges, instructors should advise students on correct terminology and phraseology. As students master these communication skills, instructors and students alike usually enjoy a reduced stress level in the aircraft.
Resurrection
Sims teach more than just scan patterns and attitude instrument flying - more than visualization and situational awareness - more than instrument approaches and ATC procedures. Sims offer benefits for student, private, and advanced pilots alike, which makes the sim one of the most versatile training tools ever invented.
If sims were widely available, you'd think that every instructor would use them. But many don't, perhaps because they aren't comfortable with sims themselves. Or, they may not yet possess the requisite skills to use them effectively.
Whatever the reasons, instructors should realize that a sim is just another training tool. To use it effectively we must become familiar with its technology. We must obtain a proper checkout in it, as we must in a real aircraft. This means learning about its capabilities and operation, and its systems and limitations. But keep in mind that the power of a sim is only limited by the imagination of the instructor using it.
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