News

Tower simulator gives novice controllers hands-on experience

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78 ABW/PA
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  While there are a variety of aircraft at Robins, it's not exactly the most happening place when it comes to air traffic control.

During a typical shift, a local controller handles about eight take offs and landings, and that's on a day when the weather is good.

For apprentice controllers here, that number of sorties limits their ability to gain experience. However, in a small building at the base of Robins' air traffic control tower, trainees are getting all the experience they can handle, courtesy of a Tower Simulation System.

The simulator features an exact replica of the Robins airfield along with "Eagle Base," an imaginary airfield intended to reflect what a controller might see in Iraq or Afghanistan. Large screens set up in a semi-circle mirror what the controllers see through the windows of an actual tower.

The simulator also has the same equipment in an actual tower, including the communication gear needed to talk to "virtual" pilots. If a controller doesn't say the right thing, the "pilots" will ask them to repeat it.

"It's as close to real as you can get without being upstairs," said Airman 1st Class Jeff Steuber, as he trained in the simulator recently with fellow apprentice controller Airman 1st Class Taylor Turpin.

The simulator has more than 100 programmed scenarios, from very complex to very small problems, to evaluate a controller's ability.

The simulator can put controllers through things they hopefully never have to experience for real, such as emergency landings and aircraft crashes. Controllers have to go through all of the same steps they would in a real situation, including calling in "virtual" emergency responders.

But it can also force controllers to react to smaller but equally serious things such as animals running onto the runway.

The $800,000 simulator, a popular stop on flightline tours, was installed in 2003. While Robins was among the first bases to get one, they're a common fixture today across the Air Force.

Supervisory Controller Robert Harvey said the simulator is a good investment for the Air Force because it cuts the time for training upgrades by 30 to 40 percent. Previously, trainees would lose an average of two or three days of training time per week due to poor weather or little to no flying, he said.

While Robins doesn't have a lot of air traffic, it does present some unique problems for controllers due to the variety of aircraft which frequent the runway, Harvey said.

Air turbulence created by a large C-5 or C-17, for example, can wreak havoc on a much smaller F-15 if the planes aren't routed correctly. The widely varied speeds of different types of aircraft also present challenges.