BRIEFING T HE V I R T U A L R E A L I T Y (VR) helmets and crisp video monitors give this U.S. Air Force Academy lab the look and feel of a high-tech gaming center-but the results are serious and lasting for each cadet at the half-dozen flight simulator stations. The cadets' ability to master the principles of flight taught here will help determine their fitness for military pilot training, and that will shape their careers as U.S. Air Force officers. The VR technology they're using also has the potential to improve civilian flight training while sharply reducing costs and making the entire process more enjoyable. " The wind's behind PRODUCTS / Game on Virtual reality comes to real flight training BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN 44 AOPA PILOT / August 2021 you now so you know your ground speed's increasing, " a classroom instructor tells a cadet at one of the sims. " That means your next turn has got to be steeper to maintain the proper ground track. " The cadets are intently focused on their seventh online lesson on the VR simulators, and the tasks are centered on flying a simulated Cirrus SR20 around a precise rectangular ground track while compensating for a 20-knot crosswind. Throughout the exercise they are told to maintain 90 knots and 5,500 feet. An automated voice in their headset tells them whenever they stray, and engine and wind noise rise and fall as they adjust power settings. Red and white ground markers show the track they're meant to follow, and in some lessons, there are circular targets to fly through along the way. The cadet I'm observing has never flown an actual aircraft before, but he adjusts the airplane's crab angle to