HP90 ...
Thank you for your contribution.
However ... We need to be perfectly clear here. Initial Flying Training (for Gliding even more so) involves the 'teaching' by an instructor 121 and the 'learning' of a highly practical skill by the student that requires full immersion in the 'real' world thus allowing the ab initio Pilot to develop/master the necessary eye, hand, feet and brain coordination to succeed. The student then builds on these foundations as they progress through their training ...
FACT There is
NO substitute for this as mentioned by
Pobjoy
In fact there are many Mil & Civ QFI's who will say that anyone wishing to learn to fly should stay well away from any form of 'simulation' (especially Desktop PC 'Game' simulation) until they have gained 'safe habits' and sufficient experience with 'real' world flying first ... Even then to be cautious about such usage.
Don't get me wrong, there is a place for proper 'synthetic' training ... But not at the ab initio stage. A 'procedures' trainer is perfectly acceptable (aka a Cardboard Bomber) to learn NORMAL and EMERGENCY FRC Drills ... But it's just as easy to sit in a cockpit in the hangar and 'chant' away until your checks and drills become second nature. That way, when your QFI pulls the throttle on take-off and asks you to perform an EFATO, you have a sporting chance of getting most of the exercise right
Turning to your comments on VRG's, yes it partially solves the 'view' issue, but they introduce more inconsistencies with the 'real world' flying environment. Just using your Tutor T1 example screen shot ... If I were to reach out (goggles on) with my right hand to adjust the OBS Knob, I wouldn't see MY right hand doing the necessary. In any case (unless you intend to go for the open cockpit 'Biggles' experience ... the goggles you show are again an 'unnatural' experience)
These Air Cadet PTT's are based on the X-Plane 'Game' software (£49.99 from TransAir) with many other 'add-ons' both soft and hard (scenery, cockpits and simulated gauges etc). If they are to be NO more than a 'procedures trainer' then there is no need for the visuals IMHO. So any reasonably informed observer would have a valid case to question the CapEx spend of £650K if they are to be no more than a 'procedures trainer'.