Simulator sessions

[shakespeare]

How practical are your sim sessions?

Do you think having a V1 cut, followed by an electrical bus-tie problem followed by associated hydraulic abnormalities in icing conditions all within the first few minutes of take-off is PRACTICAL?

I am a keen advocate of good learning philosophy and culture and practical learning scenarios. I do however think that some sim instructors really don't have any idea what they are supposed to be doing when they throw all this sort of rubbish at you.

Are they trying to teach you something or are they just trying to see how much of an ass they can make of themselves?

Appreciate your thoughts.

[Secret Squirrel]

Bill, I guess if all those things are given in quick succesion they serve no purpose but to find out how much you can take, OR, you're being 'taught' by a checker which is the most useless type of sim **** there is.

I hate sim sessions but they are a necessary evil. Indeed I hate them so much I wish they were every three months. Sound like a contradiction? Maybe but I know how rusty you can get after six months of not looking regularly at your drills and the unfamiliarity with the sim details is half the pain of it.

You have to consider that there are a certain amount of 'ticks in the right boxes' which have to be 'ticked'. Depending on the sim type you are flying it can cost anything from £500 - £1000 an hour.

In our company we have some good instructors and some bad ones but the good ones all have one common strategy (IMHO): They will give you a failure, or failures, and assess your skill at solving the issue(s). The sim will then be stopped and the instructor will give praise where it is due or ask your reasoning behind a certain decision which he deems erroneous. He/she will then move on to another exercise but always stopping the sim to go through the exercise and disect it with the pilots.

Now this may seem like an incredible waste of time and, therefore, money but I assure you I learn much more from it than if they leave me on tenterhooks and debrief me after 4 hours at 01:00. This leaves only general points to be made in the debriefing when, let's face it, we're hardly at our most receptive to details.

Having said this, this approach does not work on an LPC/OPC for obvious reasons. I presume you were not talking about this as the only failure you should be given is an engine failure. At least that's the way we do it. Our loft exercise is a seperate item.

[WeeWillyWinky]

Shakespeare

I think you are on the wrong track. Multiple, consecutive failures are not meant to be viewed as a likely situation but more to maximise exposure to non - normal situations. The fact that several occur in one 'flight' is actually to maximise the use of what in fact is limited simulator time. You would be suprised how quickly 4 hours passes! Speaking from experience dealing with a situation is a little easier if it has been practised in the simulator. Certainly in my company it is a training rather than trapping tool with the obvious proviso that we have to reach a minimum standard and pass the legal test items. Over the past 15 years or so the quality of the trainers/training department has been greatly improved with trainers being given far more training in training skills and believe me it has been money well spent. Also I agree with the comment above that an imminent simulator session forces you to do some in - depth revision.

Sounds like you have had a bad experience.

[shakespeare]

Thank you for your reponses.

I actually do very much enjoy my sim sessions as they are a fantastic learning tool and if performed correctly (as they are by the majority of instructors from my years of experience) are very useful.

The question above related to a collegue who just returned from "the most harrowing sim session he has ever encountered". The pressure was incredible and the unrelenting nature of the instructor coupled with a very inexperienced F/O seemed to be a tad unrealistic!

WWW, I take your point that it gives you exposure to non normal situations,and this in essence is as I say, a fantastic learning period. However when the scenarios form part of a LPC/OPC, (which MUST BE PASSED) they place pilots in a precarious position. I think the instructor should be able demonstrate the sucessful resolution if the incumbant makes a mess of it.

Once again, thanks for the inputs.