Originally Posted by PEI_3721
I believe that the effectiveness of the simulator in providing experience of deceleration remains open. IMHO new pilots under training in simulator tend to judge the condition of the runway surface (braking effectiveness) on the distance taken to stop, particularly when having been told what the runway conditions are, e.g judgement/experience in hindsight. I doubt that this method of judgement is used that often in routine operations where there is more reliance on the perceived deceleration, particularly if the visual cues are poor (rain / night) or limited (cat 2/3). Whilst use of deceleration is ‘good’ in the time sense of ‘now’ vs hindsight, there still remains the need to reflect on what has been experienced in order to form the memory of the experience.
I don’t have a huge disagreement with you. Of course it is true that new pilots in training in a simulator will judge the condition of the runway surface based on the distance it takes to stop – or at least reduce forward speed to a recognized speed for taxi. But, I think that is largely true for new pilots in the airplane as well. The only way to gain experience doing anything is to do whatever it is for a while. Therefore, for the first few flights for a new pilot the only “experience” he or she will have with deceleration on landings will largely be what exposure they had in the simulator.
Simulators – at least the more modern ones – are exceptionally capable machines … and their value simply cannot be ignored. When called upon to do so they are quite capable of providing several differing runway surface or surface contaminant conditions that will result in having the simulator respond the way the airplane would have responded. Unfortunately, not every training organization utilizes the capabilities of their equipment to the degree they could – or should.
As an example, I am still one of those who believe that pilots do not have a realistic understanding of just how far forward the rudder pedals must be rotated to achieve “maximum” braking. And, my tendency is to have them at least try to understand by referring their memory to how far they have to depress those same “brake” pedals when setting the parking brake – and advise them that position is just at the threshold for maximum braking effectiveness. I’ve seen many pilots having to adjust the position of their “posterior” in their seat to allow them to achieve sufficient mechanical advantage to get the parking brake engaged. If that “posterior” position was necessary during a max brake stop or an RTO – there’s a good chance those would have been overrun potentials. And, again, if the simulator is built, programmed, and maintained correctly, even the parking brake application will be measured and compared to airplane data for accuracy.