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The Training Dilemma

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Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Jet pilot training, particularly with simulators and emphasis on automation, has led to a remarkable safety record in commercial aviation by training as pilots fly.
  • General aviation piston training, however, often restricts automation use to assess basic hand-flying skills, diverging from real-world flying where automation is crucial for single-pilot IFR safety.
  • This creates a dilemma: how to effectively train piston pilots to rely on automation for safety while also ensuring they possess the critical manual flying proficiency needed for automation failures, which are more common in less robust piston systems.
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An axiom of flight training, particularly simulator training, is that you should train the way you fly and fly the way you train. It is obvious that if you practice normal, abnormal and emergency procedures under the most realistic conditions possible, you will be best prepared for the real thing if and when it happens.

The best companies in the flight training industry have done a good job of making jet pilot training reasonably realistic. LOFT (line operation flight training) is the acronym for simulator sessions that emphasize seemingly small problems that can grow into major emergencies if the crew mishandles them initially.

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