Leveraging Virtual Training Environments to Develop Professional Flight Officers in a Rapidly Changing Aviation Industry

Abstract

Pilot education in a university environment, compared to an airline training facility, imposes unique challenges from the standpoint of course design and implementation.  Learning objectives at the university level tend to be of broader scope than the focused training objectives at the airlines. University curricula and associated educational technologies must remain nimble in order to meet the required skills and knowledge base for developing professional flight officers capable of adapting to a wide variety of flight operations.  Maintaining the necessary flexibility within an aviation program while remaining cost-effective, however, can be a challenge.  Greater reliance on software systems to create virtual training environments, rather than the incorporation of advanced flight simulator devices, is one strategy to address these concerns. This paper examines the virtual training strategies implemented at Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science and seeks to reconcile MSU Denver’s approach with the current and future needs of the aviation industry.   Suggestions of adaptation and implementation for future needs of virtual training environments within the pilot training domain are also provided.