If you’ve followed this blog for a while you’re familiar with my trips to the hellish Chamber of Horrors, a.k.a. United Airlines Training Center in Denver, CO. There, aside from being subject to the blatant, almost gleeful cruelty of the inquisitors, I gain landing currency, handle emergencies, train for low, almost zero visibility approaches, and avoid midair collisions. The simulators are so realistic that once you are immersed in the training, you forget you’re on the ground. But…you are, and that’s the point here.
See, flying a plane uses all five senses, not only visual, which is all a simulator offers along with some simulated but mostly inaccurate motion. I’ve been flying the Boeing 747-400 for almost 10 years now. It’s like being married to someone for a long time. I know the sounds it makes and mostly always why. I can sense something going wrong before it does because of the subtle way it handles or sounds, or even smells. I’ve figured out what NOT to do to get it all riled up. I know what makes it happy. It’s even gotten to the point that I know the various planes in the fleet and their little idiosyncrasies, like the ones that drink too much (gas). You can’t get any of that in a simulator.
But not everyone has access to 180 million dollar airplanes. Worry no longer! Now no pilot will have to be inconvenienced searching for a real plane to fly. A home PC with some kickass flying games, some time bought in the simulator, and this eager pilot wannabe will soon be sitting behind the controls in YOUR plane ready to fly you and your children to Grandma’s house! Sound exciting? A little too exciting for me!
There’s been a scary but inevitable development at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) the folks that make the world’s aviation rules. They’re now going to let prospective pilots earn most of their experience in ground-based simulators. Because…it saves money! It’ll allow foreign airlines (Asia, Middle East) that face shortages of pilots (ahem, maybe it’s because they don’t let women fly??!!) to get their flights crews trained and hired faster. Most likely, the change won’t take effect in the USA anytime soon, but buyer beware if you’re planning travel overseas, especially on “bargain airlines.”
Oh, the article also states ever-so casually that only co-pilots can be trained this way. The captain still has to have “100s of hours” of flight time. Gah. That’s nothing. I stopped counting when I passed 10,000. I remember how I felt at “100s” and it wasn’t very experienced. Luckily I was still in the USAF flying little jet trainers with just me and one student to worry about.
Here’s the link to the article.
There’s even a lovely shot of the Torture Chamber!
I want to wish you all a lovely holiday!
