The varied training scenarios were developed by SAFE in cooperation with Redbird Flight Simulations, and are available for download at the SAFE website. The scenarios are the same ones used at the SAFE booth at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and last week at AOPA Summit in Palm Springs, California.
SAFE Executive Director Doug Stewart said, “Given the success of the simulator portion of the Pilot Proficiency Program, the time had come to share these challenging training scenarios with those who provide training in Redbird sims across the country.”
Each downloadable scenario includes a 15-minute briefing, a 30-minute scenario, and a 15-minute debrief. The situations include hot-and-high takeoffs and landings, partial power loss on takeoff followed by an offshore ditching, VFR flight into deteriorating weather conditions, and more.
One of the scenarios involves a nighttime “black hole” visual approach to the airport at Luling, Texas. The scenario is more challenging due to non-standard placement of runway lights (displaced 95 feet from the approach end), contributing to the illusion that the aircraft is lower than it really is. The scenario touches on several learning points, including techniques for safely executing black hole visual approaches; using GPS to help maintain a 3-to-1 glide ratio; coordinating groundspeed with rate of descent; use of the GPS “OBS” mode to maintain directional control to the centerline of the runway.
