Improvements in Virtual Reality Parachute Simulation Training for Ejection and Bailout

Aircraft ejections and bailouts are dire military emergencies that can occur in any weather, over any terrain, and in combination with other factors that would limit even airborne paratroop training and missions. Aircrew do not receive any actual jump training for these mishaps, and the result is overwhelming new sensory overload at a time when it is least comprehendible. These circumstances combine to impair performance proficiency during an already perilous situation that requires well-executed skills and well-defined procedures. Escape by parachute may be the only likely successful route to survival, but aversion to perceived parachuting dangers can lead to delays in ejection and almost always to failures to bailout Parachute flight simulation training has been widely adopted as a solution that develops these skills in aircrew as well as paratroops. Simulation invokes and develops correct skills and avoids the development of incorrect habits that are then extremely difficult to overcome, particularly when swift, correct action is needed in a crisis. Interaction with the large and enthusiastic user community has motivated the development of a number of enhancements to the trainee visual experience and instructor training controls. These include software features, such as more detailed and accurate scene depiction, improved hypoxia simulation, a new night-vision goggles (NVG) emulation mode and additional training features, as well as hardware improvements in high resolution head mounted displays (HMD) and head orientation trackers, and the implementation of multiple simultaneous jumpers in a shared simulation through real-time networking. These and other improvements are described in this paper, together with improved simulator training techniques. BACKGROUND Whether in training or actual combat, military flying is inherently hazardous. Aircraft and crew are subject to high stress; mishaps occur; and aircraft are lost. In these cases, the best that can be hoped is that ejection or bailout will have put aircrew under parachutes. These events can happen in far worse circumstances than would be acceptable for airborne paratroops, and while actual jump training is not practical, this highly stressful situation still requires confidence for success, quick but orderly, virtually automatic decision making, and skilled physical reactions. In almost all of these emergency parachuting incidents, the aircrew are uninjured when the parachute has opened successfully; the problem is then in following procedures to achieve a safe landing. Figure 1. Aircrew Parachute Simulator Training When training relied only on classroom lectures and simple suspended harness procedures demonstrations, trainees were required to pretend that they were under a canopy and exhibit actions without seeing their impact in the form of timely, correct results. Using this methodology resulted in significant landing injuries on more than half of emergency incidents, usually due to incorrect emergency procedures. Proper procedures and actions were not sufficiently ingrained through these teaching methods, and as a result, aircrew either performed incorrect actions or failed to perform correct actions and procedures. For example, 4-line releases were seldom deployed, resulting in oscillating, almost-uncontrollable canopies that led to landing injuries. As with other physical skills-related (sportstype) activities, it is essential to avoid learning incorrect behaviors, as bad habits can be very difficult to unlearn and avoid, particularly in high stress circumstances. Actual real-life parachute training, however, is far too costly and dangerous to be required for aircrew personnel. The solution lies in a simulator-based training system originally developed for USDA Forest Service (FS) smokejumpers 1 (civilian fire fighters operating round parachutes) to establish smooth basic parachute flight (canopy control) skills in extremely difficult conditions. The smokejumpers were faced with a similar dilemma: reducing training jumps to reduce injuries leads to more onthe-job injuries and poorer performance. The simulator provided training that reduced injuries and improved skills. Similar results were obtained when simulator-based training was adopted by military operational units . Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld mandated 3 as a first priority the adoption of technologies and devices that will save lives by training personnel for very trying circumstances. Secretary Rumsfeld stated that these have “must fund” priority and are no longer to be considered as “nice-to-have. ” Aircrew may be in far more trying situations than operational jumpers, since emergencies can occur without regard to daylight, weather, altitude, terrain, etc. restrictions. These factors are all available and controllable in the simulation environment. Moreover, aircrew emergency parachutes are much more likely to malfunction due to openings at severe speeds and adverse jumper body positions. A quick and accurate response is essential; there is no reserve parachute. These malfunctions can also be presented in the simulation, where aircrew can learn the correct procedures to follow for each type of malfunction under controlled classroom conditions, so that the skills will be well-practiced and automatically employed when they are most needed, in the critical situation of an actual parachute malfunction. Fig. 1 shows an aircrew deploying his parachute in a typical parachute simulator in use for bailout training. The installation places the trainee under a C-9 parachute draped over the suspension frame to reduce extraneous room lighting in the HMD (Head Mounted Display). LESSON PLAN TRAINING GOALS Widespread adoption of emergency parachute simulator training has led to the development of procedures manuals, instructor guides, and lesson plans. These plans vary depending on the particular emergency circumstances foreseen, but all share the goal of presenting as complete as possible a sequence of challenges employing as much equipment and encountering as many of the events as can be expected in a real emergency; that is, a goal of minimizing the part-task aspects of this training. These plans incorporate the extensive sequence of operations required for success in emergency parachuting.