SAS
Don't have a problem with any of that but we have unfortunately reached a point if helicopter development where the conventional 'cheap is best' solution no longer works.
It's very sad because I realise that to turn things around the sims are going to have to be more expensive and that really goes against the grain. It looked for a while as if our dream would come true and every type would have a good quality sim in every part of the globe. I'm afraid we have to stop that right now, go back to the drawing board and produce simulators IN CONJUNCTION with the avionics boys.
When these clever kids produce a software driven wizard piece of kit they should do so in the full realisation that it needs to drive a simulator as well as the real thing. The notion that reverse engineered windows-based displays and software is pure and utter nonsense. Windows is the most flaky system going. Cheap - yes, reliable NO.
We desperately need simulators to help us with our training needs but the problems I and my colleges see in the field of automation management are a serious accident risk that has already peppered the accident statistics in the FW world and since 2002 - at least - has featured in our own.
To teach effectively we need the tools for the job. This means that all concerned need to get round the table and plot a way forward. It should begin, I believe with having exactly the same equipment in the simulator as the aircraft. I have yet to see a generic switch box, display or rotating knob that matches the real thing for longevity. Bite the bullet, pay the price and do it right.
G.