Photos courtesy of Global Helicopter Service
Phillips said that many pilots are “ Type A personalities , who want to cross training off their list .” They want to have success with their training and missions and move on . He added that sometimes when training with the ATS Device , they may not get it right the first time . There are difficult , variable challenges that they will be presented with while wearing the ATS Device in flight .
“ Simulators do not provide the vestibular illusions encountered during Degraded Visual Environment induced spatial disorientation , but this product does . Geography of flight and weather conditions – DVE is from bad weather , snow , or dust , or landing in snow or dust – what people miss most often is low contrast environments . When flying at night with goggles with no visible horizon in a low contrast environment , it is hard to see . Low contrast environments are difficult . If a pilot flies into the setting sun , that can be hard . Our system is designed to be a degraded , low visibility situation ; this tool trains the decision making ( of the pilot ),” Phillips added .
Chad St . Francis , vice president of business development and marketing for ASU , Inc . said it is a good affiliation because , “ You can sit in a simulator , but not have the same experience . Going from Visual Flight Rules ( VFR ) to instrument meteorological conditions ( IMC ) or instrument flight rules ( IFR ) conditions , it is good to do training in the aircraft with someone beside you .” St . Francis , who is also a pilot and instructor with deep military experience , added that the in-flight training is , “… familiar , a lot of us have been in this condition with dust , snow , degraded visibility ; to do the ( training ) in the aircraft is much better .”
APRIL | MAY 2021 ISSUE NO . 26 35