Teaching Objective: Learn about technology of powered flight and the requirements for safe piloting of an aircraft.
Project Description: In the Interterm course “An Introduction to the Principles, Practices and Procedures of Turbine Flight” (2018 January), instructor Captain Henry Parker Hirschel taught brief lessons on Newtonian physics and the evolution of flight simulation technology. Hirschel demonstrated flying techniques using the Microsoft Flight Simulator STEAM Virtual Reality platform. For Amherst students, the bulk of class time was devoted to practicing being pilot and co-pilot on the Microsoft Flight Simulator X. An important skill the students learned was to land the plane safely — the trickiest skill to learn since that’s when most accidents happen. Hirschel, retired instructor for the Steamship Authority in Woods Hole, Mass., has taught this course on virtual flight simulation for about 10 winter breaks at Amherst. The last course ran in spring 2018.
Academic Technology Tools: FlyInside, Microsoft Flight Simulator, HTC Vive headset
Henry Parker Hirschel guides a student through the use of a flight simulator, watching the “flat screen” representation of what the student is seeing using a VR headset.
