View Full Version : Simulator - erratic behaviour
The African Dude
25th Nov 2010, 01:32
Like everybody, I have good and bad days. But why on earth on the bad days in the sim, as a trainee, can I walk through the entry door and instantly forget everything I know? What on earth causes it? And how on earth can I get around it?? It's not a massive issue, just wondered what sort of coping strategies you folks use/teach for those dumb days when things don't really connect. :ugh:
TowerDog
25th Nov 2010, 01:45
The best remedy for bad days in the sim (and I have had plenty of those)
is to study up and be as prepared as possible on all the flying stuff: speeds, procedures, call-outs, check lists, etc.
Then you have more built-in confidence and the sim becomes easier and less stressfull. :cool:
Agree 100% with the previous - maximum preparation.
I would add that it is very important not to stop flying / hold your hands up when things go totally wrong. Keep going until the instructor calls a halt.
You learn more from your mistakes than from doing it all 100% correctly.
If for example your stall recovery results in an unusual attitude then do an unusual attitude recovery and not simply say "I made a mess of that can we do it again".
LH-OAB
27th Nov 2010, 17:39
I had great difficulty treating the sim as if it was "for real" so I try to get into the correct mindset. I prepare as if I'm actually going flying and make sure I have the same briefings fixed in my mind - weather and so on. I'm damn sure I perform much better if I dress up and strap in (uniform, headset, harness) as I would for a "real" flight - I sound like a daft prat describing it - but many of the actions come naturally when you're in a familiar setting. Is that what they call "Environmental Capture"? Not always possible of course, some operators say "relax, turn up in your jeans" and would laugh at you if you strapped in. Having watched a sim partner repeatedly crash and burn, I was the one who got the bollocking for not taking control from the RHS....my defence of "yeah, well I would have in real life" proved the point about mindset and lost me an opportunity to show that I could actually fly the thing.