Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

9.3 Device Levels

The authorities have defined a range of increasingly sophisticated flight training devices. Each level device has been assigned certain training and checking capabilities. Under the guidelines of the Advanced Qualification Program, the trainee receives credits against time in the airplane and in the simulator, and can receive sign-offs on certain competencies on these devices.

Together with the four existing standards of flight simulators (Levels A to D), the seven levels of flight training devices create a "virtual continuum of flight simulation media." The full-motion simulator A-to-D scheme is the subject of 9.4 Types of Simulators; this section catalogues the seven levels of flight training devices defined in the authority advisory circular.

The seven levels

Level 3

A generic trainer. An enclosed-cockpit device with control loading, aerodynamic modelling, and systems simulation, but representing a family of airplanes (such as twin-turboprops) rather than a specific type.

Level 4

A cockpit procedures trainer. An airplane-specific device that is not able to be "flown" but is sufficient to familiarise the pilot with the normal and non-normal ground and air procedures associated with operating the main airplane systems. The Level 4 device is the procedures-training tool typically paired with classroom instruction during transition courses.

Level 5

An airplane-specific "open-cockpit" device with a generic flight program representing a class of similar airplanes (such as jet aircraft) and with at least one system, such as flight management, fully simulated. Control loading need only be sufficient to fly a manual approach, as the aim of this device is not to teach the pilot how to fly but how to manage high-technology airplane systems. The Level 5 device sits between the Level 4 procedures trainer and the higher-fidelity Levels 6 and 7: it is open-cockpit (not enclosed) and the generic flight program means systems training comes first, manual handling a distant second.

Level 6

An airplane-specific, enclosed-cockpit device with control loading, aerodynamic modelling, and full systems simulation. The level of fidelity required is not as high as for Level 7. The Level 6 device is the lowest-fidelity tier that approaches the full-flight simulator architecture; control loading and aerodynamic modelling are present, but to a fidelity standard below Level 7.

Level 7

A fixed-base simulator without motion or visual systems, but capable of being upgraded to a full flight simulator. Level 7 is the architectural ceiling of the flight-training-device category: it has the airplane-specific systems and the fidelity floor of a full-flight simulator, but it lacks the motion and visual systems that would move it into the 9.4 Types of Simulators. The Fixed Base Simulator Training treatment in 9.4 Types of Simulators explains how the Level 7 device is used.

The seven levels as a progression

The seven levels are progressive in three dimensions:

  • Specificity: Level 3 is generic across an airplane family; Levels 4 through 7 are airplane-specific.
  • Cockpit envelope: Level 5 is open-cockpit; Levels 4, 6, and 7 are enclosed.
  • Fidelity of dynamic response: Level 4 cannot be "flown"; Level 5's control loading is minimal; Level 6 has full systems and aerodynamic modelling at a lower fidelity tier; Level 7 has full-flight-simulator fidelity without motion or visual.

The Level 7 device's "capable of being upgraded to a full flight simulator" attribute is operationally important: an operator can purchase a Level 7 device first, accumulate training credit on it under AQP, then add motion and visual systems later to convert it into an 9.4 Types of Simulators without replacing the airframe-shell investment.

The "virtual continuum"

The seven flight-training-device levels combined with the four full-flight-simulator letter classes create what the source material calls a "virtual continuum of flight simulation media." The continuum has implications for training credit:

  • The lowest devices (Level 3 and Level 4) can carry procedural and systems training credit.
  • The middle devices (Levels 5 and 6) can carry systems-management and selected handling-task credit.
  • The highest devices (Level 7 and the 9.4 Types of Simulators) can carry handling-task credit and, at the top, full type-rating credit.

The AQP framework is what authorises the credit at each tier; the device taxonomy is what the AQP credit is rationed against. See FSTD for the ICAO Doc 9625 view of the same continuum (Types I through VII), which cross-walks with this seven-level scheme.

Connections

  • 9.2 Definition of Flight Training Device. The categorical definition this taxonomy stratifies.
  • 9.4 Types of Simulators. The A-to-D classification for full-motion simulators that sits above this taxonomy.
  • FSTD. The ICAO Doc 9625 device-type framework (Types I through VII) that the seven-level scheme cross-walks with.
  • AQP. The training-credit framework that operationalises the device-level distinctions.
  • EBT. The methodology for which the highest tiers of this taxonomy (Level 7 plus the Type C and D simulators) are the assumed training platform.