Flight simulators have helped pilots train for flight ever since Edwin Link built his ground-breaking Link Trainer in the 1930s. Nearly 100 years later, virtual reality (VR) flight simulators are now revolutionizing the way we learn to fly.
Benefits of Virtual Reality Flight Simulators
The use of VR flight simulators, or Immersive Training Devices (ITDs), offer several benefits for pilots. These benefits are well-supported by empirical research, with some of the most notable being safety, affordability, and accessibility.
Safety:
Immersive Training Devices allow pilots to train, practice and learn essential skills in a safe, less stressful environment, either before or in concert with their traditional flight training.
VR flight simulators, for instance, allow pilots to practice emergency procedures without risk, which can help them to develop the skills they need to handle unexpected or emergency situations in the air. This is especially important for ab initio students who can become overwhelmed in the cockpit but is equally useful for more experienced pilots developing new skills or revising old ones.
Affordability:
Immersive Training Devices are also more affordable than many of the traditional flight training devices currently available to students and qualified pilots. The cost of using a traditional flight simulator or hiring an aircraft and instructor is expensive. VR flight simulators, on the other hand, can be utilised to great effect enabling students to gain confidence and competence, at very affordable rates, prior to entering an aircraft.
In turn, this increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the in-flight training process leading to demonstrations of competence being achieved sooner.
Accessibility:
Finally, ITDs are highly accessible. They can be used anywhere, at any time, day or night, in any weather. Unlike all but the most expensive legacy flight training devices, VR flight simulators can also replicate almost any training scenario, weather condition, time of day/night, season, global location, or even aircraft type.
Take Your Flight Training Further with True Course Simulations
VR flight simulators (ITDs), like those designed and built by True Course Simulations, offer a safer, more affordable, and more accessible addition to the way we learn to fly. This, coupled with True Course Simulations’ Virtual Instructor Courseware enables pilots to initially learn, practice and home their skills independently from a flight instructor. This student-centric learning system enables students to turn up to lessons more prepared than ever before.
Immersive Training Devices are a major step forward in the evolution of flight training and are already transforming the way people learn to fly. If you would like to know more about how you can join the revolution, get in touch and we’ll be happy to tell you more.