The Flight School Next program aims to transform how the U.S. Army conducts its Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) training. The idea is to adopt best practices from civilian flight training, where a single commercial entity owns and operates all aspects of training—aircraft, simulators, instruction, and maintenance. The ultimate goal is to streamline pilot training while cutting costs.
An interesting aspect of this plan is that the first two phases involve training that is modeled on existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rotary wing training requirements for private pilots and instrument rating certifications. That involves a lot of training in civilian airspace where pilots must become proficient in communicating with air traffic control. And that's where things get interesting for ASTi.
Where better to get familiar with civilian airspace operations and air traffic control than in a simulator? It gets even better when that simulator is running our Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC (SERA) product. SERA provides comprehensive simulated ATC services, including ground, tower, and departure controllers, with realistic radio procedures and traffic from other, virtual aircraft. SERA creates a vibrant, realistic training environment that builds confidence, safety, and best practices from the ground up.
The SERA advantage has a proven track record in both U.S. military and civilian pilot training programs. Contact us to talk about how SERA is an essential component of this (and other) innovative flight training programs.
