Advancements and Integration with Flight Simulators
Look there’s a plane in the sky – Cessnas, Diamonds, Piper Senecas, oh my! When you look up and see a plane fly by, do you ever stop to wonder what’s going on behind the scenes in the aviation industry? Fasten your seat belts, as PEA catches you up on all things aviation and gives a little glimpse into some exciting news that is occurring on our campus.
Phoenix East Aviation has successfully trained thousands of pilots for more than 50 years, positively contributing to the ever growing and changing aviation industry. Flight training is the backbone of the aviation industry: it produces skilled, safe and hard-working pilots that are needed to run this industry, upon which every other industry is dependent.
Technological advancements have taken a front-and-center role in producing and training safe and proficient pilots. Pilots are becoming more self-reliant due to the numerous computer-based training resources available and accessible from anywhere. This allows basic training in aeronautics, mechanical/electrical systems, and weather etc. well before they are required to meet with a Certified Flight Instructor and take their first flight.
Technological advancements such as interactive aeronautical charts, flight-planning tools (such as ForeFlight, owned by Boeing), in-flight avionics such as the Garmin G500, G1000 NXi, which Phoenix East Aviation has proudly implemented into their fleet, have all made flying much safer and efficient compared to prior decades. The use of technology expands beyond just the cockpit. Phoenix East Aviation uses both Redbird FMX Full Motion and Redbird TD2 simulators to help their pilots learn primary flight skills in a device that provides accurate feedback, making it an easier transition into a real aircraft. “Redbird was founded in 2006 with the simple idea that we could help make it easier for anyone to become a pilot. The original idea was the obvious one: The best way to make a pilot feel like they are flying a real airplane is to put them in a real airplane.” (Redbird, 2021).
Since the integration of simulators in the flight training process, it has been proven that there are many benefits to it: however there are three in particular that should be considered. The first being that student pilots have the ability to navigate through challenging situations they may encounter, within the safety net of a simulator, while also improving their knowledge of the aircraft. The use of simulator software at home, and simulators in professional flight training facilities, has positively impacted the aviation industry because of the technological realism that it provides. The second benefit of a flight simulator in terms of flight training is that it has the capability to provide a student pilot the understanding on what to do if an emergency situation were to arise. Using a flight simulator while completing flight training, “offers opportunity to further develop more complex scenarios and training certain emergency procedures” (EASA, 2021). Finally, the third benefit of a flight simulator is one of the safest ways to learn how to fly. PEA allows students to practice flying and complete a number of hours in a simulator with their flight instructor in order to breeze through their training. However, in general, simulators allow “students to learn and experiment with different aircraft controls and flight methods safely.”(Alpha Aviation Group, 2022).
Phoenix East Aviation takes pride in the training they offer future pilots, and that is why it is important to highlight some of the major benefits to utilizing flight simulators during flight training, as well as in the aviation industry. PEA is committed to the growth of their flight training internally, as well as their business relationships, externally to make sure that both students and instructors have the highest quality of training and experience for their future careers in aviation.
“Training Technology for Aviation.” Redbird Flight Simulations, https://simulators.redbirdflight.com/.
