We were really pleased this year to learn that, after a break of a few years due to COVID, the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Flight Simulation Specialist Group have restarted their excellent series of in-person conferences at RAeS headquarters, in fact so pleased SIM OPS agreed to be one of the corporate sponsors for this autumn's conference.
Based in the heart of London the RAeS has a long and proud history of being at the forefront of aviation, established in 1866, it is the world's oldest professional body dedicated to the aerospace community. The RAeS Flight Simulation Group (FSG) was established as an RAeS specialist group in 1971 and has championed developments in training devices and training for both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, uniquely addressing both the military and civil domains.
Having realised that the RAeS FSG’s activities were not as well known in the industry as they might be, we thought we would shine a spotlight on one (of the many) aspects of the group’s work, namely the snappily entitled “Aeroplane Flight Simulation Training Device Handbook”, or as it's otherwise known the FSTD operator's “dummies guide” to FSTD testing and evaluation.
The documents, there are two volumes for objective and subjective FSTD testing respectively, trace their inception back to 1992 following the first publication of ICAO doc 9625 “Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulation Training Devices”, setting up an industry-agreed common frame of reference for the qualification of a Level D FFS. What was missing was a collection of industry best practices and examples of how to interpret these standards and informing the simulation user community of how to practically evaluate them. Thus, the Handbooks were born and subsequently updated as ICAO 9625, now in its fourth edition, evolved to cover all levels of FSTDs for both fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
As mentioned above the handbook is divided into two volumes.
Volume One (currently on the Fourth Edition) focuses on Qualification Test Guide (QTG) objective testing. It is aimed at engineers and evaluators, detailing the background and content of a QTG test, method of execution (manual or automatic), presentation of results and how to assess pass / fail with regards to regulatory requirements and what the test is attempting to prove.
Volume Two, (currently on the Second Edition), is designed for FSTD pilot evaluators and covers functions and subjective testing techniques, what to look for (and what not to look for) in performance and handling, cueing (visual, motion and sound), and a methodology to create flight test profiles covering most anticipated training scenarios, normal and abnormal operating procedures. Not an easy thing to achieve as we all know that the number of opinions on a FSTD issue often equals the number of pilots flying the FSTD, squared!!
From a personal perspective volume one has been the first book we have always provided to new engineers involved with designing FSTD QTGs, training centre managers responsible for qualifying their devices and simulator technicians responsible for running QTGs. Take a look around the technical office at any training centre with FSTDs and we’d be surprised if you didn't find a copy lurking on the bookshelf, probably adjacent to the MQTG and this years re-runs. Many a National Aviation Authority technical inspector has been known to carry one around with them and use it during evaluation also.
Like many of the publications and standards we all rely on, the handbook was produced by dedicated individuals on a free-of-charge basis; even if their companies paid for their travel we can assure you, from experience, that these efforts were “on top of the day job”. We would encourage everyone to take a moment to read the list of contributors, it reads like a who's who of the simulation community… and yes, some of us at SIM OPS were involved and have the battle scars to prove it.
Although not updated since 2009, so for example UPRT is not covered, the documents remain invaluable. With the proposed changes to regulations and changes to ICAO 9625 perhaps a new revision may be forthcoming.
The next FSG conference is being held at the RAeS headquarters in London on 22-23rd October 2024. See you there!
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