Story ID: 446
Cirrus Offers Virtual and Augmented Training Solutions
By: Amy Wilder
Caption: Immersive training to enhance pilot proficiency and safety
Word Count: 680
Cirrus Aircraft has been advancing its flight training solutions and is expanding its Cirrus Assist mobile units to boost customer support.
The company launched its Cirrus-specific training course a couple of years ago and is building out augmented- and virtual-reality (AR/VR) training experiences for its Vision Jet and SR aircraft. In addition to ground training, users can, for example, use the Apple Vision Pro VR headset to learn preflight walkaround and startup procedures, familiarize themselves with avionics, get a feel for sight pictures for maneuvers like steep turns, and even practice talking to ATC. 
Users can also select aircraft components to explode the views of systems. A selection of the jet engine, for example, renders the airframe transparent and highlights the entire fuel system, showing the lines connecting to the fuel tanks in the wings and the engine design.
The experience isn’t fully developed, but in a demo of the system at NBAA-BACE, I found it to be stunningly realistic. For example, it was difficult to keep from placing my hand against the virtual airframe during preflight. 
The development of this program was made simpler by the emergence of Apple Vision Pro technology, which is relatively easy to program for the VR space. When Cirrus CEO Zean Nielsen took over in 2019, he was working on his private certificate, “and I sat down with Rob Haig, our chief pilot and head of training, and jokingly told him, I feel like I’m going through a divorce. I feel like I’m throwing money at something, and I don’t know when I’m done.
“One of the things that I want to do with Cirrus is drive the cost of ownership down, and the cost of ownership starts with learning how to fly,” Nielsen told AIN. “You’re learning avionics and talking to air traffic control when you’re with the instructor in the airplane, and that is the most expensive time. What if you could learn all that at home? What if you could be an expert in the avionics before you set foot in the aircraft? So now you can just focus your time on stick and rudder, takeoffs and landings, slow flight, steep turns—all of that.”
Virtual learning can help alleviate plateauing during training and also enhances safety for Cirrus pilots, who can practice checklists and familiarize themselves with the avionics from the comfort of home instead of while flying the airplane, when they are task-saturated. “So, this chair flying we all do, now you can actually do it with the VR glasses,” said Nielsen. 
“We have yet to decide how we want to implement it in our training approach,” he said. “What we don’t want it to be is gimmicky. Our training platform for the SR is very well built out, and then we have a step upwards: the type rating, which is very much driven by our classroom training in Knoxville, Tennessee, and full motion simulators.”
The training coursework is tailored for both operators and primary learners. The broader offerings include custom learning programs, recurrent training, and access to FAA-certified full-motion flight simulators supported by a network of Cirrus-certified instructor pilots. 
As far as its support network, Cirrus has added a fleet of Cirrus Assist mobile units to service aircraft-on-ground events and other "break-fix" needs. The Cirrus Assist mobile units cover regions in Arizona, Florida, and Utah. This is part of a continuing effort to refine and expand aftermarket support for the Vision Jet, the company said.
Cirrus also has continued to refine its single-jet, now offering the Vision Jet G2+ model, which boasts a range of updates, including improved takeoff capabilities, Garmin GDL 60 for Cirrus IQ, Garmin Autoland Safe Return, inflight Gogo Wi-Fi, and Auto Radar weather detection.
Attendees at NBAA-BACE can visit Cirrus at Booth 2401 to experience a live demo of this innovative training tool and a mockup of the Vision Jet.