So I thought, well all of the off shore guys and their pax have to do HUET courses, which does involve a big bit of capital expenditure at centralised areas, why not have it mandatory for all NVMC, even all EMS pilots to do a mandatory sim ride involving total loss of visibility and then final disorientation.
I figured it’s all too easy on a check ride under the hood, (like this dude) recovering from unusual attitudes day or night or inadvertent IMC penetration, with a safety pilot beside you. That’s no big deal is it 'cos you know he ain't gonna let it crash so how stupid is it as preparation against this type of crash?
In that situation they don’t get the real logic which is aimed at teaching one to recover a sticky situation and thus they get a false sense of confidence, of winning.
Give the Man a Gold Star!
You sum it up in a very good way....and I fully agree with you on this one!
When it happens for real...when you feel that JOLT of Adrenalin...your hand tenses...your butt clinches....your breathing pauses...and you realize....that you are in a very life threatening situation....the Checkride IIMC exercise just doesn't even come close to the the real thing.
There's been studies done on how quickly one can lose control of the aircraft....perhaps we need to see a study done on what percentage of pilots do lose control following IIMC.
SIM rides would be a good step forward but still would lack the psychological stress that the real event produces.