Originally Posted by
HughMartin
The handling qualities, control feel and visuals on the simulators I was exposed to left a lot to be desired. Some of them should not have been certified...
The simulators now are quite good, but depth perception of blended projected visuals on to a curved screen requires some adjustment of technique. An initial trainee can do all of their training on the simulator and then be certified to fly the real helicopter with no additional training required. But I suspect flying the real helicopter for the first time after initial training on the simulator will feel about as wobbly as the simulator feels the first time you fly it after years of flying a real helicopter.
The simulators are quite realistic and provide a valuable training tool as part of a wider training curriculum.