A new sofware will now provide aspiring pilots the chance to do their groundwork before flying
THANKS to Steve Casner, a research scientist at the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration's (NASA) Ames
research centre at Mountain View,
California, us, aspiring pilots can now
learn to fly advanced commercial aircrafts by using nothing more than a laptop computer.
Casner's basic idea was to simulate
the programme found in most of the
advanced aircrafts' flight management
softwares, which allows one to switch an
aircraft to an 'autopilot' mode. Casner's
programme tapes the flight management system of an automated glass
cockpit and enables the pilots to programme their own learning materials
and exercises.
The software programme features
five windows: a control/display unit,
mode control panel, two digital maps to
show the horizontal and vertical tracks
of the craft, and a flight mode enunciator displaying which flight system (there
is a choice of more than 10 packages,
graded according to the flying experience of the learner and difficulty of
the test flight) is currently controlling
the craft.
In addition, there is a section to the
right of control/display unit for
inputting text and carrying on a conversation with the learners. The software
incorporates audio, video and several
film clips to illustrate various flight
sequences.
Thus, it is basically an electronic
tutor that supports and teaches the
pilots. Casner added, "Because of the
decreasing size and the increasing
power of small computers, we are
able to incorporate a tremendous
amount of information into a small
package", and the program has an
added advantage of being an 'anytime,
anywhere' feature.
., Reflecting a new trend in NASA
research, where more and more technical studies are being used in the aviation
industry, Casner's programme is being
tested at present. He had demonstrated
it to major commercial airline carriers
and many of them, including a few
foreign carriers, have expressed interest
in it.
Casner plans to create a training
programme for university students who
are studying to become professional
pilots, next. As most of the future pilots
in the us come through a rigorous
four-year course on aviation in the
universities, Casner feels that it is
imperative that they know through
simulations of real life situations
what to expect when they climb into
a cockpit for the first time. Casner,
also, plans to author a textbook and
an accompanying CD ROM to make
the programme available to a broad
population.
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