Students in the pilot program at JBSA-Randolph have a new way of getting schooled before they take to the sky.
Lt. Col. Matthew Strohmeyer, 560th Flying Training Squadron Commander, said that the sky is the limit with the new program.
"It really is an amazing time for the Air Force and our country as a whole," Commander Strohmeyer said.
And times have changed since Strohmeyer and Lt. Col. Justin Chandler went through pilot training.
"You had a poster with the cockpit on the wall and a plunger between your legs and you had to do with we called ‘chair fly,’" Lt. Col. Chandler said.
But the students at Randolph in the pilot program have new virtual reality simulated training.
"What we really feel is that we are empowered at a level that we have never been before,” Chandler said. "The student's performance is showing great increases."
The leaders at Randolph explain how this commercial, off-the shelf software has been a smooth landing in the six weeks it’s been around.
"Less training time required to master a task, more efficient use, more effective use of the time in the aircraft," Chandler said. "It is expensive to fly. Fuel is expensive. So, if we can cover some of that training here in the virtual reality environment, that's going to save time in the air."
The computer program allows the students to get an almost real-time feel, as if they were flying. The effectiveness is key.
"There are some skills that need to be trained at a lesser level before you put them in that environment, and those skills might be able to be trained here to a lot higher degree than what we have been able to do in the past," said Strohmeyer, who added that this is keeping the U.S. competitive on the global stage.
"There are several actors in the world that are challenging the primacy of the United States. We have recognized the need to rethink how we operate, even down here at the tactical squadron level, to ensure we can have the competitive advantage that we need so we can go toe-to-toe with those actors."
The virtual software costs about $4,000. Another plus is being able to get real-time data from the students.