Problem Statement
There has been debate on whether simulators can cut the time to complete training (Allerton, 2000; Miller et al., 1995; Myers, Starr, & Mullins, 2018). Especially for a student outside of the environs of a University or school that is equipped with simulator devices, access to a simulator may in itself be a limiting factor (Fussell & Truong, 2020; Judy, 2018). Before we establish studies to determine whether simulator intervention can produce shorter training cycles, it is worth establishing whether those who have access to a simulator complete their training faster than those who do not.
Purpose statement
The purpose of this study is to determine if a relationship exists between simulator access and the time taken to complete training.
Research Questions/Hypotheses
RQ1: Is there a relationship between student pilots’ access to a flight training device and the time taken to complete their training (elapsed time)?
H1: Flight training elapsed time is correlated to having access to a flight training device.
H0: Flight training elapsed time is not correlated to having access to a flight training device.
Participants
Participants of this study will include current student pilots at NWF Flight School in Schaumburg Airport (06C) and IAA’s flight school in Dupage Airport (KDPA). Participants at 06C have access to an advanced flight training device and those at KDPA do not have access to a flight training device.
Procedure
The time taken from the point when a student enrolls in the flight school to the point the student achieves the Private Pilot Certificate will be measured as elapsed time. This data will be collected for a period of 12 months at both schools. Since the data collected will not include any item that can identify the student, there is no requirement to acquire IRB approval.
Proposed Data Analysis
The data is best analyzed with a one-way, between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA). There is a single independent variable (i.e. Access to a flight training device) and one dependent variable, ‘Elapsed Time’. Since there are two groups, one with access to the flight training device and another with no access, the Between-Groups model works well. (Wilson & Joye, 2017).
References
Allerton, D. J. (2000). Flight Simulation-past, present and future. The Aeronautical Journal, 104(1042), 651-663.
Fussell, S. G., & Truong, D. (2020). Preliminary results of a study investigating aviation student’s intentions to use virtual reality for flight training. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 7(3), 2.
Judy, A. (2018). A study of flight simulation training time, aircraft training time, and pilot competence as measured by the naval standard score (Doctoral dissertation, Southeastern University).
Miller, R., Hobday, M., Leroux-Demers, T., & Olleros, X. (1995). Innovation in complex systems industries: the case of flight simulation. Industrial and corporate change, 4(2), 363-400.
Myers III, P. L., Starr, A. W., & Mullins, K. (2018). Flight simulator fidelity, training transfer, and the role of instructors in optimizing learning. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 5(1), 6.
Wilson, J. H., Joye, S. W., (2017). Research Methods and Statistics: An Integrated Approach. Sage Publications, Inc.
