Week 8 Reflection

One area that Chapter 18 discussed which I believe is already being used widespread in the aviation industry is Technology-based training delivery through the use of simulation. Not only has the use of simulation been a major part of training pilots in aircraft simulators, but also with respect to the aviation management/business end, where both web, and computer-based programs are being used to simulate the growth of a mock corporation by students in Aviation Managements courses. Simulation has in fact become a large part of our own flight training program at WMU in the College of Aviation. We have two Cirrus aircraft simulators that have 210 degrees of wrap-around displays, with an exact mock-up of the Cirrus cockpit. In the aviation industry, simulation is a large part of the foundation of flight training, and can significantly off-set the huge costs of training in actual aircraft. All of the major airlines have been using simulation for many years, in fact, an airline pilots first flight in the actual airplane is usually with paying passengers aboard.

Enhancing Training Efficiency and Effectiveness --This is done to “(1) use technology to reduce training time and cost; and (2) use more sophisticated evaluation techniques to ensure training effectiveness, thereby avoiding the need for follow up instruction.” This ladder half is done by what we call an IOE captain (Initial operating experience) . As I was explaining, a pilots first flight in the airliner (after going through rigorous flight training in state-of-the-art simulators) will be with a specialized captain, who has been training to teach, and evaluate the skills of the new first officer. This process usually takes about 35-50 hours of flight time. Once the IOE captain is satisfied with the new first officers evaluation, they will then be signed off to fly with any other captains. This was probably more that any of you wanted to know, however I thought that it fits right in with this chapter.

EDT 5410: Overall, I’ve found the technology-related tasks in this course to be quite awesome! To be honest, I’m disappointed that I am not actively teaching a course this semester. Several of the tasks that we’ve completed, I’m just itching to incorporate into my aviation courses. I consider myself somewhat of a “techie” however prior to this class, my technology outreach has been somewhat limited. Most of the tasks thus far have not been too difficult to handle, in fact all of the necessary guidelines have been within the lesson assignment. As far as me being a “newbie” to this program, I think that all of the content thus far has been well placed, and received. I’m very excited to continue in future course to see what lies ahead!