Flight simulator changes the way aircrew train

Published Feb. 13, 2017
By By Senior Airman Harrison Withrow
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Standing alone in a 50’ foot tower resembling something from a Transformers movie sits a machine that has changed the way pilot’s train.

Grissom’s KC135R Stratotanker flight deck simulator is a full-range simulator with interactive displays designed to provide pilot training and save money.

Gary Beebe, Grissom’s site focal pilot who manages the KC-135 simulator, is a retired Air Force colonel who flew the KC-135 for 33 years. He now instructs aircrew using tools that weren’t around when he first began his Air Force career.

“When I was a young guy, the simulator was pretty much just a tool used to familiarize us with running checklists,” he said. “Now with the visual systems that we have today, and the full range of motion simulators, it’s really very close to the real aircraft.”

The technology used in the simulator has become so advanced that it’s completely changed the way tanker crews train for emergencies, said Beebe.

“We used to practice emergency procedures in the aircraft, but now we’re turning to the simulator for that,” he said. “Instead of just telling them what to do, you can actually show people what it will really be like.”

Because the simulator has become so versatile, it can train crews for events that might very rarely happen in an aircraft, said Beebe.

“We can simulator bad weather and all sorts of things the aircrew might see in a live environment,” he said. “We can walk the crew through it and ask, ‘what’s really the best way to approach this and recover the aircraft?’”

The ability to realistically simulate emergencies is one of the greatest advantages of the simulator, said Capt. Robert Faurot, 434th Operations Support Squadron director of training.

“The biggest thing we evaluate in “the box” is emergency procedures,” said Faurot. “We throw anything from an engine fire to just a plain engine flameout at the crews to see how they handle it.”

The ability to practice any scenario at any time in the simulator has been greatly effective at improving aircrew readiness, he said.

“Emergency situations in the simulator can be stressful, but that’s a good thing,” said Faurot. “When you’re in the simulator and get the warning lights and tones associated with an actual emergency, you have to think, ‘okay, what am I going to do?’ You go through the checklist and figure out how you would proceed as if you were in the actual aircraft.”

Alongside the pilots training inside the simulator are instructors who both control the scenario and coach the crew.

“The instructors have enormous amounts of experience,” said Faurot. “We may miss things and they will point them out. Without having the flight simulators to practice such emergencies it could make having an actual emergency in the aircraft that much more stressful. Having the knowledge on such a wide range of scenarios in extremely helpful to each aircrew member involved.”

The simulator also holds a financial advantage over practicing in a live aircraft, said Beebe. The KC-135 cost almost $22,000 for each flight-hour, while the simulator only costs a few hundred.

Because of these benefits, the Air Force has fully embraced simulators as a method for keeping aircrew current on their annual training.

“Pilots can accomplish 100 percent of their annual training requirements in the simulator, along with regaining and maintaining currency,” he said. “During an average year, pilots will accomplish 4-6 simulator flights, practicing various systems knowledge such as electrical, pneumatics, engines, fuels, hydraulics, along with emergency procedures and crew resource management.”

Each simulator flight is approximately 4 hours long, and involves two pilots who are training, said Faurot. Each pilot spends half the flight practicing flying skills, and the other half acting as a monitoring pilot.

Despite all of the benefits and advantages the simulator brings to the table, ultimately it will never fully replace training in a real aircraft, said Faurot.

“Even with all the visual improvements and full-motion upgrades to our current flight simulator here at Grissom, it can never fully simulate flying the actual aircraft,” he said. “It’s great to learn the systems and practice emergency procedures, however, no matter how realistic you make it seem, we as aircrew members always know in the back of our minds that it’s only a sim and we always get to walk away at the end of the day.”

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.

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Flight simulator changes the way aircrew train

Public Affairs Staff