Hello virtual skies: RAF Shawbury transforms helicopter instructor training
Trainee helicopter instructors at RAF Shawbury are now using VR technology to replicate real-world flying as part of an effort to improve training efficiency and reduce operational costs.
The VR system provides detailed flight simulations, allowing students to observe flight instruments and pilot actions as if they were in the cockpit.
Lieutenant Commander Martin Pickles, Assistant Training Officer at Central Flying School Helicopters, said: "What you're looking at… is recorded footage of being in a Juno helicopter.
"I'm flying a manoeuvre called an auto-rotation… and if you look around, you can see 360°. It really does feel like you're actually in the aircraft.
"It's more realistic than a simulator because it is actually real.
"We are seeing improvements in their performance in the air because they've been able to look at this footage and really get better and better."
Before the arrival of VR, training relied on "armchair flying," a technique involving mental visualisation.
"When you close your eyes… it can be quite hard to picture it, but… with the headsets, you fully immerse yourself, and it's like you are transported up to the aircraft," said Flight Lieutenant Zoe Wilson-Chalon, a trainee qualified helicopter instructor.
The in-house style of VR training allows instructors to create customised teaching scenarios, even incorporating deliberate errors in recorded footage.
"Some of the recordings we watch… have deliberate errors put in, so it allows us to practise… we can try and debrief it or rewind it and see if there was an error that we might have missed," Flt Lt Wilson-Chalon added.
For Lieutenant Tom Pethick, another trainee qualified helicopter instructor, the VR headsets offer a stark contrast to previous training methods.
"It was certainly useful at the start of the course… to get to grips on what the screens look like. This has helped me hopefully quickly adapt," he said, adding that past training involved "cardboard cutouts…[where you] pretend there's a cockpit in front of you and imagine that you're flying it".
Beyond honing skills, the technology promises long-term cost savings.
According to Lt Cdr Pickles: "Every extra flying hour that we have is hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds… so that's what I'm looking for in the future."
As more footage becomes available, he hopes to see an improvement in the performance of the students in the air and a reduction in the number of sorties that are failed, leading to fewer training flights.
Although VR complements Shawbury's traditional training methods, it will not replace in-air and simulator time.
Instead, it provides additional hands-on experience without the cost and logistics of actual flights, bringing future RAF and Royal Navy helicopter instructors closer to full readiness.
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