Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 11.29.06

Okay, this will sound funny, and it is, but it really happened. And there's a lesson in it for us all.

I was wandering through the exhibit hall at last year's AOPA Expo when I came upon one of several booths displaying computer-based flight simulation equipment. The vendor was selling hardware, using a wildly popular flight simulation program to highlight his wares. One item being sold was a joystick controller optimized for use with flight simulation software.

I wandered close to the action, where a prospective customer was seated before a cloth-covered display table. In front of him was a computer monitor with the instrument panel and flight-view display, depicting a glass-cockpit airplane. Mounted on the wall ahead was a larger plasma display of the same view. The joystick was on the table, at about the right height, in front of the customer.

He was having some difficulty controlling the simulation. It's not unusual for simulation displays to lag behind control inputs, leading to jerky motions and pilot-induced oscillations. The customer, however, said he was very precise when he flies, and comfortable with the PC-based software. He just couldn't get the control down, and the salesman/"instructor" alongside couldn't help him either. The pilot was frustrated, and the sale was going nowhere.

"Mind if I ask something?" I butted in. "What type of airplane do you fly?"

"I have a Cirrus SR22," responded the pilot.

"Excuse me," I said as I reached onto the tabletop, grabbed the joystick, and moved it from directly in front of the pilot to a position forward of his left shoulder. "Try this." The pilot immediately had greatly improved control and began to smile as he "flew" the simulation.

I don't know if he bought anything, but putting the joystick in a position that made sense for the pilot (who flies a side-stick control airplane) made the simulation "real" enough that it markedly improved his performance -- and made the learning experience all the more relevant and transferable to his actual flying.

Aero-tip of the day: In all your practice and training, strive for "your" realism to get the most out of the experience.

FMI: Aero-Tips