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VR Simulators at Whiting

Ricki Desai

New Member
I've been waiting to class up for Primary and have been going to the sim bay a few times per week to run checklists and EPs. We aren't allowed to use the OFTs or the UTDs (officially) until we class up, but we are allowed to utilize the VR sims that the Navy decided to copy the Air Force on. Just wanted to get some opinions on how to leverge this tool (practicing maneuvers, basic air work, etc.). I rarely see anyone ever using them, and apparently the Air Force is considering using them to replace a good portion of their primary flight training.
 

RandomGoat1248

Well-Known Member
The VR "sims" suck. Don't bother using them. A much better use of your time is learning the checklists and hollywood in the static trainers.

They fly a lot different from the actual airplane or the real sims, and the FMS in the VR sim doesn't actually work so you really can't even work on instrument stuff.
 
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DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
However, don't discount them in the future. I got to test out a VR simulator under consideration for the helicopter side and it blew me away how accurate it felt. The only downside I recall was inability to read the gauges so you basically had to assume everything was kept in limits, but the actual flight characteristics and "feel" of the helicopter were incredible.
 
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Meyerkord

Well-Known Member
pilot
Assuming they're the same ones we have in Corpus, they're basically only good for getting a sight picture for course rules. The instruments are so hard to read that you have to resort to using the HUD, and the control inputs (at least the PCL) are so delayed that it's hard to make corrections without being all over the place.

It's a cool idea, but they still need a lot of work.
 

hdr777

Well-Known Member
pilot
If you do use them, don't use the headset. Put the view outside on the top screen, and the instruments on the bottom screen.

If you're still waiting to class up, the best thing you can do is use the static sims to get the hollywood checklist down, and know the location of all the switches in the cockpit, as well as memorize EPs.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
If you really want to study ahead at this point then memorize the EPs like you memorized the Code of Conduct at OCS, the menus at the Academy, or whatever they make you memorize and regurgitate at commissioning sources these days... If you can recite the boldface steps while you're PTing or bouncing a ball of the wall and catching it (old school studying) then you'll be in great shape later in the brief, not to mention the cockpit.

What guys are saying about getting the Hollywood checklist down pat- that is also good gouge.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I see the microsims have been updated to their latest level of uselessness. The more things change . . . :)
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
I see the microsims have been updated to their latest level of uselessness. The more things change . . . :)
It's been about twenty years but there was that guy who chair-flew everything in his Microsoft FS and then maxed out the primary NSS. For a little while after that, CNATRA was falling all over themselves that it was the next great thing in flight training. There were even a few Bell 206 trial "simulators" with a full sized collective + twist grip, cyclic, pedals, and giant monitor... they were as shitty as you might expect as far as the hovering flight model.

Then it all faded away sometime in the mid-2000s.

ISTR he selected P-3s too (by choice, with an 80NSS), which probably caused some consternation and confusion with a few folks.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
VR/AR is just a tool for displays. If you run it on a Windows machine or don't put the effort into hiring real 3D modelers to make the cockpit as accurate as you can, you're still just going to get shit. Trendy, fancy shit, but still shit. I'd love to know what percentage of the code being run in all those server racks of a fleet sim or airline sim goes to getting aerodynamic nuances and minor control inputs right. I'd bet a lot of it. And we all know those are still just an approximation of the jet.

I think AR especially has uses in military training, and I wish I had more hours in the day to be able to break into that field. But you can't just strap an Oculus on someone's face and go "but muh #disruption and #innovation."
 

Dontcallmegump

Well-Known Member
pilot
So far the only "useful" thing I've seen the VR microsims do is give NAMI another reason to harass us. Few months ago I pulled a duty to go screw around in them for about an hour and fill out a physio questionnaire before, directly after and then incrementally for another hour or so about a large number of air sickness questions and the like. Two docs from main side said they were investigating whether it was safe to do VR and fly for real within certain time limits and whether or not people experienced any physical effects from the micro sims. Only thing I noticed was a little headache from trying to get the things to work and having two tiny TVs strapped to my face half an inch away from my retinas...

I've just focused on knowing where stuff in the cockpit is, getting the critical EPs down and digesting what the course structure is like.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Future Marty McFly doesn't much like them either.


66841-18xtn4phla91vjpg.jpg
 

Hopeful Hoya

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Don’t totally discount them, they aren’t perfect but for some things they’re solid. For Primary I could see them being useful for the Navigation flights and practicing PAs. If you go the jet route for advanced they’re awesome for practicing phase II stuff.

I wouldn’t want to fly a plane after using them however, they definitely make you feel funky.
 
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