Dogfight
Better than the real thing
Sims are indispensable
By Dave Hirschman
If you want to know how effective flight simulators are as teaching tools, take a kid for an introductory flight and hand over the controls.
Teens who’ve spent hours “playing” desktop flight simulation games get comfortable in airplanes immediately, and they maneuver in three dimensions with dexterity and confidence. Their play time makes them ready to learn from the moment they strap themselves to an airplane.
Not convinced? Try learning the intricacies of a Garmin GTN 750 while bouncing along in turbulence, sweating, and listening for ATC calls. You’ll retain far less GTN knowledge from that flight than you would have gained from a free, self-paced tablet tutorial about the same product lasting the same amount of time. (That’s simulation, too.)
Flight simulators have already revolutionized airline and military flight training—and they can bring similar benefits to general aviation. Our GA sims aren’t as sophisticated as the immersive, multimillion-dollar, Level D models airline and military pilots use—but we can do more with less.
A Redbird simulator with rudimentary motion is twitchier than an actual aircraft. So a student who is introduced to, practices, and masters VFR maneuvers in a Redbird is almost guaranteed to perform even better in a real aircraft.
And as good as GA sims are for learning procedures and VFR maneuvers, they’re even better for instrument flight training and proficiency. Flying the sim “on the gauges” for one hour allows many more repetitions of the approaches and particular skills you want to practice than flying three hours in a real airplane. Pilots can realistically simulate emergencies that they’d never do in actual low-visibility conditions. A simulated vacuum pump failure that causes the attitude indicator to lie on its side and the directional gyro to spin like a pinwheel is a much more accurate representation of what really happens than simply covering those instruments with sticky notes. And instructors can pause, replay, and emphasize subtle cues in sims that they can’t re-create in the air.
Sims allow pilots to practice ATC communications with an instructor, or solo with new tools such as Virtual ATC, Parrot, or PilotEdge that heighten realism.
When a personal, club, or flight school airplane is down for maintenance; there’s a scheduling conflict; or adverse weather keeps you stuck on the ground, simulators let you keep learning, build proficiency, and stay sharp.
Looking ahead, simulators are sure to play an even bigger role in GA’s future.
Moore’s Law of ever-increasing computer power has already profoundly improved GA sims, and that’s sure to continue. GA pilots already can pre-fly unfamiliar routes on sims that offer photo-realistic, Google Earth-style terrain and realistic approaches.
Virtual reality will make flight training more realistic, less expensive, and produce better educated, more skilled GA pilots. The best teaching tools make learning seem like a game—and any kid with a flight simulator can demonstrate how that’s done.
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Not the real thing
Most of us train without simulators
By Alton K. Marsh
I agree with Dave Hirschman on three little points he makes in his pro-simulator argument. It’s the basic premise that gives me problems.
My introduction to simulators came in 1970 when, with my pet mastodon waiting outside for the dangerous ride back to my family’s cave, I was placed in a metal box to practice instrument flying for my commercial pilot certificate. The key word is “metal.” When I would make a mistake and the ink pen would go off course at the instructor’s station, the instructor would pound on the box with a pipe. I don’t recall if I learned anything.
I, too, have been impressed with kids who play with simulator programs—by their knowledge of terminology. However, those who fly model airplanes know even more about flying: They know the control inputs it takes for some very sophisticated aerobatics, without ever having flown in a real airplane.
No fair throwing in a practice simulator for the Garmin GTN 750. That’s avionics, and this is about flying. Avionics simulators are just one of the training tools required to learn programs that are more about the software engineer showing off.
I have flown a Boeing 777 simulator at United Airlines in Denver. It was great, but I’ve never seen one of those simulators go legs-up inverted. Guess what the real airplane can do? That’s right, go inverted. You have double pressure—performing for an instructor or examiner, and keeping a “real thing” airplane upright and on course.
If you want to concentrate on procedures, then a procedures trainer is just the thing. But it doesn’t need to move or simulate flight. A realistic cockpit with instruments in the right places is all you need.
I know of two flight schools nearby that have simulators, but many do not because of the cost. So most pilots do not have the option to jump in a sim on a rainy day.
I do agree that pre-flying with Google Earth-style terrain is great prep for flying unfamiliar routes, especially in areas with multiple airports in a small area. I’ll concede that simulators are less expensive, but affordable depends on the finances of the individual.
A simulator with spongy controls, that has fake switches on a screen or looks like nothing ever seen in an airplane, that has poor motion, is not the real thing. You are constantly jamming the control yoke (I almost typed joke) forward, pulling back, and jamming forward again. Those are the types of simulators seen most often in GA. Dave seems to think that motion simulators’ twitchiness is an advantage. So the worse it is, the better, because of all the obstacles you must overcome? You’re ready for a simulator flying contest, but maybe not the real thing.
I flew a twin-engine simulator at Raleigh, North Carolina, that had a reputation of being spongy. You’d push at it, and it would push back. I got good at flying that simulator, and I still remember being praised by the instructor when I took the correct action for a failed engine. I succeeded on the third day in flying the simulator, but don’t think it improved my performance in the aircraft much.
For the “real thing,” why not stick with the real thing?
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