INFORMATION ON INTERACTIVE, SELF-TEACH, COMPUTER BASED, THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TRAINING IN VFR & IFR RADIO TELEPHONY COMMUNICATIONS FROM OXFORD AVIATION TRAINING

General

Radio Telephony (RT) Communications lie at the base of procedural flying. Proficiency in RT Communication is fundamental to becoming a skilled procedural pilot. It is important that a student pilot acquires fast and accurate RT technique as early as possible in his training. Good RT skills will be of great value to the student in all aspects of his early VFR flying training, especially during the first flights cross-country.

Up till now, RT skills have been taught and learned by "osmosis". RT technique and speech patterns have been acquired gradually by the student as he progresses through his training, meeting new situations and being briefed accordingly by his instructor on the RT relevant to a particular exercise.

Many instructors and student pilots recognise the lack of a suitable RT training medium with which to impart RT skills in a structured way and in a realistic context. Books and videos exist in abundance, but they are incapable of teaching RT in actual "in-flight" situations. At best, using video, a student can observe passively from inside an on-screen cockpit what RT transmissions are made and received by the pilot in a given situation.

Oxford's Interactive Computer Based Training in RT Communications achieves all that videos can achieve but also brings invaluable additional learning contexts to the student. In addition to in-flight video representation of the cockpit interior, Oxford Aviation Training's RT CBT, produced by its Software Division, OATmedia, gives students, on a single screen, a graphical "god's-eye" view of the aircraft, showing its position in relation to airspace boundaries and airfield zones. The same principle applies, in ground sequences, for runways and taxiways, etc. The graphics are animated such that, together with the video and audio sequences, a student has a complete picture of the air-traffic situation, whether in the air or on the ground. Furthermore, in addition to teaching students the RT and piloting considerations of any given air traffic situation, our RT Comms CBT enables the student to interact with that situation, listening to ATC RT and responding accordingly.

Reaction from instructors, potential students and airline customers to our RT CBT has been most encouraging.

OATmedia has produced three separate CD-ROMs. Two are for VFR RT Communications (one for British and international use, reflecting ICAO procedures, and one - a VFR supplement - for UK Airspace, only), and the third is for IFR RT Communications. The two principal (i.e. not the UK Supplement) CD-ROMs enable students to teach themselves the JAA ATPL ground training syllabus in the Subject 090 ‘Communications' . The VFR UK Airspace Supplement, together with the main VFR RT CD-ROM, cover the syllabus for the UK-based JAA PPL examinations, as well as for the UK Flight Radio Telephony Operators Certificate.

Together, the three CD-ROMS cover the theoretical knowledge syllabi for all JAA licences : PPL, CPL, and ATPL, as well as the separate IR syllabus. Additionally, the CD-ROMs allow students to familiarise themselves with, and to practise, procedures from real VFR and IFR RT scenarios. This latter feature of the Communications CBT is of particular value to students during the early stages of their VFR flying training. Following this multi-media RT course in the English language will also bring about significant improvement in the mastery of RT-related English, for students whose mother tongue is not English.

Practical and Theoretical Training in RT Communications for Schools and Individual Students

The VFR and IFR CD-ROMs are designed to satisfy both the formal theoretical training needs and the practical needs of all student professional and private pilots. All FTOs providing training for JAA licences are obliged to teach VFR and IFR Communications, in English. For such schools seeking courseware in English, Oxford's VFR and IFR Communications CBT provides the perfect solution. Oxford's RT Communications CBT not only satisfies the JAR-FCL theoretical training learning objectives, but it also provides an FTO's students with valuable, scenario-linked, practical training in RT skills. Students will, thus, effectively and enjoyably be able to master a subject which has direct and practical relevance to their future professional flying, and, at the same time, practise the VFR RT skills that they need during their early flying training.

Continuation Training for Licensed Pilots

The VFR and IFR Communications CD-ROMs should also be attractive to licensed pilots who wish to gain higher licenses, or to train themselves to meet new, more demanding, RT situations within the range of privileges of their current licence.

Reduction in Instructor Contact Time on Integrated Courses, and Sale of CD-ROM to In-House Students

Being an interactive, self-teach medium, Oxford's RT Communications CBT can save many hours of instructor time on integrated pilot training courses. It is estimated that the present classroom hours could be reduced by three quarters by using Communications CBT. The VFR and IFR RT Communications CBT covers the whole course requirement in RT training.

The RT Communications CD-ROMs are ideal for pre-course study, too. Many students waiting to begin full-time pilot training are keen to prepare for their studies in advance and may probably welcome the opportunity to buy, before their course begins, CD-ROM based CBT in VFR and IFR Communications.

RT English for Students whose Mother Tongue is not English

Most general English language does not prepare student pilots adequately to cope with an airborne RT environment. Students who are not fluent in English may experience difficulties in acquiring the RT skills necessary to cope with the ATC aspects of cross-country flights, especially in crowded airspace. Use by non native-English speaking students of the Oxford Communications CD-ROMs will build their confidence and proficiency in RT English, in advance of the requirement to use RT "in anger". The effectiveness of early flying training will be increased.