Full Motion Simulator Vertigo?
 

Hello,

Just a quick question and one I was wondering if anyone else had. I recently started my MCC course on a B737 full motion simulator. The first day of simulators was absolutely fine but after the second day I came out feeling like I was still moving (much like from a roller coaster) which I assumed would stop after a few minutes/hours. Its now been something along the lines of 24 hours and I'm still feeling the effects of it which is causing a small amount of a sickness feeling.

Is this something I need to be worried about and has anyone had a similar issue?

It could be the motion and visual cues on the sim are slightly out of sync this can cause 'motion sickness' symptoms.
Perhaps on your first sortie there was litttle movement or you were looking inside all the time.

I would not worry about it unless it is causing your training to suffer.Try a couple of ginger biscuits before you go in, ginger can alleviate motion sickness.

Had it for a few days. I get a similar 'ghost' motion for a couple of days after spending a full day at a theme park. Don't worry about it. Tell us if you're not cured after a few more days.

Sometimes happens when the instructor re positions the SIM and the visual goes around at a rapid rate, best to look in when he repositioning, (he should tell you, too!).

Bring up Google Earth, go to a position, any position, bring it down to, say, 1000' above, then punch in a location half a world away and watch!
Can induce minor disorientation too.

Kieran, happened to me in a very bad way, last session in a sim with brand new "advanced" vision system, resulted in me having changed my glasses from half to full size reading glasses and problem was gone.

The issue is the visual system as opposed to motion. The ‘advanced’ visuals use a cross-cockpit collimated display system with a fixed focal length of a few feet whereas the brain is tricked into believing it is looking at a scene with variable focal lengths ranging from a few feet to infinity, hence the problem that some people experience.

Simulator motion sickness is a fact. We had a student who got distressed towards the end of the landing run in a 737 simulator. He was forced to close his eyes or put his head down and look at the floor as the IAS was around 60 knots and slowing. He speared off the side of the runway in a crosswind several times. He was like that through the whole type rating. He is now a F/O on 737's real time and as we have not heard about any accidents so far, we presume it was only a sim problem.

Of course air sickness is another story. During my time as a QFI one of my students was sick on almost every trip and worse during aerobatics. The flight commander decided he was a liability and was going to scrub him. As the students instructor I was ordered to note in his progress sheet how many times he was getting sick. Now apart from the air sickness problem he was a brilliant student both flying and ground subjects. So I told him to get air sickness medication. That fixed the problem. A year later he was awarded his Wings and went on to fly Mustangs. Ten years later he won a DFC flying helicopters in Vietnam

Simulator Sickness
Well known problem, espec with Av Med in military.
See:-

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&so...hr7jGg&cad=rja

To reduce
• Simulator flights should not be scheduled on the same day as aircraft flights.
• Arrive for simulator training in your usual state of health and fitness.
o Avoid fatigue or sleep loss, hangover, upset stomach, head colds, ear infections, ear blockages, upper respiratory illness, medications, and alcohol.
o If you have been sick recently and are not fully recovered, reschedule your simulator training.
• Persons who are new to the simulator, or who have not operated it in months, are at risk.
• Do not schedule simulator sessions for greater than two hours for any reason.
o Use breaks, time-outs extensively.
o The more nauseogenic the session, the shorter the session should be.
50
􀂃 Aggressive, violent maneuvers, near ground level, are more nauseogenic than high, straight-and-level flight.
• Adaptation is one of the most potent fixes for SS.
o In order to optimize adaptation, there should be a minimum of one day between simulator sessions, and a maximum of seven days.
o Begin with short sessions, using non-nauseogenic maneuvers.
o Minimize rapid gain and loss in altitude; minimize abrupt or continued roll; minimize porpoising.
o Fly the most provocative tasks at the end of the session.
• Minimize head movement, particularly when new or dynamic maneuvers are being trained.
• Tell your instructor if you are experiencing discomfort.
• The instructor should avoid, or at least minimize, use of the freeze command.
o Have the pilot close his or her eyes before using the freeze command.
o Have the pilot close his or her eyes before resetting the simulator to another location. Or, turn off visual display before reset.
• The instructor should turn off visual display and turn on cabin lights before asking the pilot to exit the simulator.
• The instructor should decrease the field of view (turn off side displays) during early sessions, nauseogenic maneuvers, or if the pilot shows any symptoms of discomfort.
o Or, go on instruments at the first sign of discomfort.
• Avoid high-risk activities for at least 12 hours after simulator training.
o High-risk activities include flying, climbing, driving, riding motorcycles, riding bicycles, or diving.
o Use handrails to help maintain balance when going up or down stairs.

Completely forgot about this thread! Thanks for the responses :)

I ended up going to see the doctor just to be on the safe side. He confirmed it was vertigo. Fully completed my MCC course now and had no further problems in the subsequent sims.

I'm adamant it was the multiple rejected take-offs that caused it!

close eyes on repositioning
 

The visual clues and the inner ear clues are conflicting, so remove one, then all will be fine.
As ZFT suggests.


Another problem is to do with reading glass, expecially progressive lens. These glasses have a horizontal interface between diopters, and the position that you are sitting in does not always have a horizontal interface, combined with your up down and rotational head movement the brain is received movement from your inner ear, and the eye is seeing different inputs.
In the sim, I do not wear my AME prescribed progressing, but wall mart 5$ bi focals.... The I have no problems at all, but progressives are hell.


Glf