Gen. Mike Minihan, the commander of Air Mobility Command, flies a Common Immersive Training Device as part of his visit to Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Aug. 26, 2022. (Kathy Duran/U.S. Air Force)
(Tribune News Service) — Vance Air Force Base prides itself on training more than 300 pilots per year, more than any other training base in the country. Through the use of state-of-the-art flight simulators, students are able to gain more experience when they begin their paths toward becoming combat pilots.
Capt. Alexander Drakoulakis, whose call-sign is "Count," said the simulators used at Vance are a useful tool for training new pilots.
"I think for the T-38 side specifically, I think in our job of training world-class pilots to go to combat air forces, which is what we're preparing them for, they are a pretty useful tool to get ready to start flying," Drakoulakis said. "During their academics, they do a whole bunch of these ITDs (Information Technology Development) which are like VR sims. It's a useful tool to get them looking at the cockpit, and just the visual scan outside of the aircraft. It basically enhances their 'chair flying' as we like to call it, which is just practicing at zero knots, which means zero altitude on the ground."
The simulators at Vance are the same that are used at all flight-training bases for the U.S. Air Force. They are a combination of virtual reality software tuned to meet the needs of those training to be combat pilots. They are comprised of commercial components, which allows for high-quality training at a low development and scaling cost, according to David Urban of Vertex Technologies, which operates the simulators on base. He said that although cost-effective, they are not able to replicate all that a pilot must know once in the cockpit.
"Being equipped with hardware that does not fully represent the aircraft is not a negative for training, however," Urban said. "By not being any specific aircraft, these can be used to train in many aircraft. Legacy simulators on the base have been built with the physical interaction as their primary objective, and as a result have not emphasized the visual representation. In effect, they were built around human output to the machine, while the cITD has been built to maximize sensory inputs to the pilot."
There is a multitude of skills that the simulators can help new pilots learn at a faster pace. Skills such as visual recognition, as well as learning what the instruments in the cockpit mean, allow the pilots to learn proper responses based on what their visuals and instruments are telling them. The simulators also allow the pilot to feel they are flying at a particular speed they would reach in an aircraft, allowing them to learn from any mistakes that are made so they know how to respond once they are in an actual aircraft.
The simulators help the pilots learn the proper procedures in the earliest of stages, and help build their proficiency with the mental side of flight training. Urban said great pilots are so because their "minds are trained to respond well to any situation that a flight throws at them."
He said through the use of the simulators, new pilots are able to more quickly become proficient in the nuances of piloting a jet aircraft.
"Their habits and responses are tied to durable cues that transfer across a multitude of situations," Urban said. "These are cues that are often built through varied flights under diverse conditions. New pilots can shortcut this learning process if they are taught durable mental cues from the beginning of their training. This is only possible through intentional focus on not just performance but also the mental process that led to the performance."
Urban also said because the simulators focus on sensory inputs, it is a fundamental shift in how pilots are trained. He said instructors have full control over the conditions a student will face, and they can view what the student, wearing a virtual reality headset, is looking at.
"They can also see exactly what the student is looking at and more easily identify the cues that a student uses to determine their actions in the plane," Urban said. "Using these tools, an instructor can ensure that the student is building correct and strong mental cues before they ever get into the airplane. Having a good mental foundation built in the simulator allows a student to spend their time in the airplane and refining skills instead of trying to build them from the ground up."
Drakoulakis said the simulators at Vance allow pilots to learn landmarks in the surrounding area, allowing them to be familiar with the ground they are flying over once they are in the cockpit.
While the simulators are a beneficial tool for training new pilots, Drakoulakis said nothing replaces the actual flight time within a jet, and when a pilot has advanced enough, the simulators aren't replacing that real-world experience, as the simulators are not used about halfway through pilot training. He said things such as flying in formation can only be learned once a pilot is familiar enough with the aircraft.
He also said the simulators being used to train the next generation of Air Force pilots are different from those being used when he was being trained.
"There's been a lot of steps since I started. When I went through pilot training, we didn't have any VR sims or anything like that," Drakoulakis said. "All of the old sims are pretty good for the more advanced instrument training and things like that. But definitely during academics, we didn't have any sims, just learning in the classroom did the traditional chair flying and practicing in your mind what you're going to do. So I think the VR sims are a big step in helping people get up to speed a little bit faster."
While simulators are best for training new pilots, there are always skills that veteran pilots can sharpen to "maintain proficiency in emergency procedures," Drakoulakis said. The simulators will continue to become more of a focal point into the future, and Drakoulakis said the technology must continue to get better.
"As technology continues to exponentially develop, I think it is important [for] our simulators to be constantly upgraded and improved," he said. "Simulators will continue to be an important part of the initial training and academics."
Urban also said the simulators are so deeply engrained in the program that they will continue to further be used to help initiate new pilots. He said when the simulators are used to their full potential, they can steepen a pilot's learning curve they are able to climb by having more training hours available and the nature of training the simulators represent.
"These simulators are more flexible in their use, more easily available to students and have applications starting well before training begins through graduation," Urban said. "What the last several years have shown is that these simulators do steepen a student's learning curve. Competencies are being reached earlier in training and as a result students have been able to fly at a higher mental level at graduation. The impact to the program that the cITD supports is an increase in competence and skill."
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