Future F-35 pilot training

This writer’s recent visit to Eglin AFB in Florida to see the new F-35 Integrated Training Centre (ITC) there (see article from p44 this issue), really highlighted how important it will be for the ADF to get its future fixed wing pilot training projects right.

The planned ‘paperless’ training system currently being finalised at the ITC will see students handed nothing more than a laptop when they arrive at Eglin, and most learning will be accomplished in a ‘self-learning’ environment in front of screens with cockpit devices such as a joystick, and using symbology common to the actual aircraft. While instructors will be available to all students, they will generally only be called upon for questions and learning reinforcement, rather than more traditional teaching roles.