Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: a look at the flight simulator

Comments (2)

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  Rick

  says:

  October 7, 2019 at 8:33 am

  My studies of work on the simulation of flight showed that a high degree of learning/experience transfer can occur from simulators with a low level of simulator fidelity and that rate of learning transfer increases with the degree of fidelity. However, as fidelity increases the cost of the simulator rises exponentially.

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  Rick

  says:

  October 10, 2019 at 9:42 am

  Studies of pilot workload showed that high levels of workload occurred at take-off, landing and peaked during times of in-flight emergency and the time in between these events as low-level, but necessary, workload.

  Cockpit automation relieved the pilots of significant amounts of workload and thereby reduced the pilot experience at “hands-on” flying. However, when an in-flight emergency occurs the flying skills of the pilots, more than ever, need the accumulated experience of many years of “hands-on” flying.

  The need for extensive hands-on experience was demonstrated in the QF32 event by Captain Richard De Crespigny where his fully laden A380 suffered catastrophic damage shortly after take-off from Singapore. Richard De Crespigny is a highly experienced Captain with wide ranging experience accumulated over many years, and with the support of his crew, he was able to draw on his experience to cope with a potentially impossible situation. The book QF32 is a good coverage of his experience leading up to and including this event.

  De Crespigny’s experience spanned the transition of the ever increasing automation of the cockpit. Because cockpit automation reduces the opportunity for younger pilots to gain his his level of hands-on experience, it reduces their ability to cope with the piloting skills needed to fly a damaged aircraft such as occurred to QF32.

  The aviation industry recognised that the improvements in cockpit automation were reducing the opportunity for pilots to gain the higher skill levels needed cope with in-flight emergencies. To address this need, flight simulators were developed to allow pilots to gain experience in facing a wide range of in-flight emergencies

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