The Transfer of Flight Training Procedures From an Advanced Airline Flight Simulator to the Classroom

Abstract

The current shortfall of aviation professionals has led employers to hire low-time, less experienced aviators to fill cockpit positions. Accordingly, the improved effectiveness and capacity of flight training programs has become a national priority. Collegiate aviation programs, in particular, are faced with resource constraints that mandate optimum use of available flight training devices. This paper suggests the use of off-the-shelf video teleconferencing technology to transmit certain aspects of flight training, such as systems operations and normal procedures, between the classroom and an advanced flight simulator or training device. Instruction that is normally limited to two or three students can now be given to a much larger audience and yet remain interactive. Limited sampling of student performance following flight simulator video teleconferencing sessions reflects the promise of this medium as a useful complement to other aviation training methodologies. This paper is not meant to be a formal research paper, but rather an overview of an innovative teaching technology that could lead to further study.