It is very flexible in adapting to training needs and relatively easy to keep current with the aircraft. The controls and instruments, wired into the trainer s computer, look and function like those in a real aircraft. And since the MTT s software is derived from the same software used in F-16s, the trainer thinks and responds in the same way.
Flexibility is a big asset of the multi-task trainer.
In 1994, we moved an F-16 MTT to the 926th Fighter Wing in New Orleans from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to help with conversion training, said Maj. The MTT was running at Hill at 8 a.m., Harwood said. We packed it up, put it on a C-130, flew it to New Orleans, and it was being used at New Orleans at 5 p.m. that day. In addition to their flexibility, MTTs can be networked together, making simultaneous flight training at multiple locations possible. Add the fact that the trainer costs a fraction of what a fixed-site simulator costs and it s easy to see why it s such a valuable commodity.