The CH-47D flight simulator, has trained Chinook pilots at Fort Campbell's Flight Simulations Branch for nearly 30 years. One of three remaining simulators of its kind, it will be officially retired at the end of the month to make way for modernized ...
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Dec. 17, 2015) -- For nearly 30 years, Chinook pilots at Fort Campbell have honed their skills at the Flight Simulations Branch on 58th Street, using the CH-47D flight simulator, Model 2B31. Many have logged hours on the large, motion-based machine, refining capabilities such as flying qualities, flight paths and radio communication. The machine is well-maintained and fully-operational. However, as the Army moves along the path of technological advances, mobility and cost effectiveness have become bigger parts of the equation in simulation-based training.
The CH-47D simulator, one of only three still remaining Armywide, will officially be retired at the end of December. To commemorate the occasion, instructors, maintenance crews and aviators, past and present, gathered Wednesday morning for a small ceremony to bid farewell to the machine.
"It's been here almost 30 years, and it's trained a lot of people," said Steve Zuercher, chief of the training support center. "When this is gone, there will be only two left. And they'll all be gone by next year."
Zuercher said that Fort Campbell already has the simulator that will take its place -- a mobile unit that was moved to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, but will make its way back to the installation in January. Mobility, according to Zuercher, is the name of the game in today's simulation program.
"This one here is a permanently-installed simulator -- you can't move it," he said. "You would have to dismantle the entire thing to move it. The other simulators they have now are mobile, and they can be kept outside. There's a big difference."
Marking the importance of the Chinook helicopter and the subsequent training afforded by the flight simulator, training instructor Matt Page shared a bit of history with the gathering at the Flight Simulations Branch. Most notably, he cited the evolution of the Chinook from 1962 to 1979, with models ranging from A to D. The D model became the Army standard in 1979, and stayed the standard until the first F model was issued in 2007 -- an impressive feat in the constantly evolving world of military machinery.
"Anybody that knows the future of Army helicopters knows that the future vertical lift program is set to start removing all of the helicopters we're familiar with in the year 2030," Page said. "It's estimated that the Chinook will probably stay in service and could actually make 100 years of service to the United States Army with the way it's going now."
As flight technology evolved, so did the technology with which to train the aviators. It began in 1968, when the Army determined that it was technologically feasible to build a Synthetic Flight Training System. With this technology, new pilots could practice difficult maneuvers safely and effectively.
"In 1972, the UH-1 simulators were put in here at Fort Campbell," Page said.
Following the success of flight simulation training, plans were drawn up for the Flight Simulations Branch building in 1979, assisted by Richard Houde, who would become the first branch chief. In 1982, the first simulator was installed with a CH-47 C cockpit, which paid for itself in saved Army spending within two years' time. In 1987, the C Model was retired after 11,434 hours of flight time and the simulator was converted to a CH-47 D.
"The total compilation of the flight hours of the cockpit … with the C and D model time together is 55,234 hours," Page said. "It would take six aircraft to actually make that number because they only fly about 10,000 miles on each airframe. Everybody that's here has a little part in that."
Houde, who played a big part in the upstart of the Flight Simulations Branch, commemorated his visit by heading into the simulator with Page for a final virtual flight over the installation. Although he has been retired for 20 years, his 28 years of flying experience proved to be like second nature as he manned the controls.
"I'm getting old," Houde said with a laugh. "Everything I can fly is either in the boneyard or at the museum. I've been retired for 20 years so I'm definitely out of that picture now. But I'm glad they invited me."
Houde acknowledged that times are changing -- but that the evolution of simulation training is a positive step for the Army of today and tomorrow.
"They're modernizing and going to different devices that are less expensive to build and to run," he said. "But you can practice things that you cannot practice in the aircraft because it's too dangerous. There's a tremendous amount of benefits, and you have a better-trained pilot when you're done."
"Aviation has owned much of the simulation training history in the Army," Zuercher explained. "But things are changing. Now we're going to see these buildings used for different things -- engagement skills trainers and a universal mission simulator."
As the Army changes the technology to become mobile and, most importantly, interoperable, Zuercher said that it is important to remember the origins of the lifesaving and cost-effective training provided by simulators.
"I hope everybody can appreciate what this simulator had meant to the Army and where simulation training is going, and how things are evolving month-by-month," he said.
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