Flight Training - February 2015 - 49

INSTRUCTOR REPORT

The power of simulators
Flight training on a budget
» By Rod Machado

OVER A PERIOD of two semesters, a young college student with
two intro flights in his logbook
acquired approximately 60 hours of
supervised training using a desktop
flight simulator. Curious to test
his chops at the controls of a real
airplane, this student signed up
for another intro flight at the end
of the second semester. Instead of
riding along passively, he asked the
accompanying flight instructor to
let him do everything-and I mean
everything-including talking with
ATC, taxiing, flying, et cetera. The
instructor reluctantly agreed.
The result? With less than two
hours of actual flight time, the student handled the airplane and ATC
with ease. The instructor touched
nothing, much to his surprise.
Airport fiction? Nope. It's all
true.
This student was lucky enough to
spend two semesters in Ed Valdez's
flight simulator class at Cypress
College in Southern California. Ed
is the assistant professor of aviation
at Cypress and an über-simulator
fan who leverages the devices to
reinforce and accelerate his students' acquisition of flight skills.
Ed's simulator platforms use
traditional desktop computers running Microsoft Flight Simulator X
(or Elite) and a network known as
PilotEdge to provide real-time ATC
communication. Several of Ed's
simulators have large TV monitors
that enhance the simulation experience (shown here). My favorite one
consists of three supersized TV
monitors arranged in the shape of
a small cubicle (it's a mini IMAX
machine). A traditional computer
screen sits slightly below the front
main screen and displays the basic
analog (not glass) flight instruments.

When a student sits down to
take the controls, he or she can see
the bottom of each wing through
the right or left (large) simulated
window. This allows the student
to directly evaluate the wing's inflight angle of attack, a necessary
component to learning stick-andrudder skills. The surrounding
terrain also is observable through
each large window. This means
the instructor can teach the basic
concepts of attitude flying, ground
reference maneuvers, pilotage,
dead reckoning navigation, and
pretty much anything else required
for private pilot certification.
Additionally, the large monitor
in front of the student allows him
or her to evaluate height above the
runway during landing. This is possible because the runway can still
be seen at the bottom left side of
the instrument panel and cowling
during the flare. After all, this is
where students should look if they
want to evaluate their height above
the runway.
Of course, none of this would be
possible without the guidance of a
highly skilled instructor such as Ed
Valdez, who uses a practical flight
syllabus (created by Ralph Butcher
at www.skyroamers.com).
One of the secrets to Ed's success
(and there are many) is that he
requires his students to have three
to four hours of simulator time for
every hour of dual instruction they
obtain. He also avoids using glass
cockpits for primary training, since
this has little to do with learning to
fly an airplane.
When I visited Ed at Cypress
College in mid-October 2014, I met
one of his students, Rito, who had
39 hours of Cessna 172 flight time
and was ready for his private pilot

checkride. Rito had acquired about
30 hours of supervised sim time over
a period of several months. According to Rito, Ed's simulator training
program will shave nearly $4,500 off
the cost of a private pilot certificate
earned at a traditional flight school.
Airport fiction? Nope. Just good
simulation software, large monitors, an effective syllabus, good
management, and exceptional
teaching skill that help students
earn their pilot certificates in less
time and with less money.
If you or your flight school operate on a budget (and who doesn't?),
then consider using Ed's flight

simulation strategy. Start by acquiring a few large-screen TVs for
way under $1,000 each (and they
certainly don't have to be as big as
the ones you see here), a desktop
computer with a good CPU, and
one or two good video cards. Build
the "Big Bertha" of flight simulators and obtain a good syllabus to
aid in your training. Now you're on
your way to replicating the success
that Ed has experienced with his
students at Cypress.

ED VALDEZ
flies a simulator
at Cypress College
in California.

Rod Machado is a flight instructor,
author, educator, and speaker.
Visit his blog (www.rodmachado.com).

FEBRUARY 2015 FLIGHT TRAINING

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