The Industry’s Only Supersonic Aircraft Upset Training
Civil jet aircraft have evolved into extremely high-performance machines. Unfortunately, pilot training has not evolved at the same pace. These aircraft are capable of very high altitudes and speeds, approaching supersonic, where airplanes behave differently than they do at slower speeds. As such, a different set of skills is required to deal with upsets in this high-performance flight regime that are not taught to civil pilots. This is evidenced in FAA Advisory Circular 61-107A, which states, “A number of corporate jet airplanes have been involved in catastrophic loss of control during high-altitude/high-speed flight.” Historical examples exist where airplanes flying very high and fast unintentionally exceeded the speed of sound during upset, resulting in catastrophic situations due to lack of training in this flight regime. Flight Research provides a solution which fills this high-performance training gap, HiPer URRT.
ICAO Officer ANB-OPS Henry Defalque states that today’s civilian pilots have an insufficient knowledge of high-altitude aerodynamics and upset threats.
Training in simulators or aircraft that do not perform like everyday jets causes pilots to use insufficient – and sometimes incorrect – procedures to recover from upsets in heavy and supersonic jets.
ICAO now requires all multi-crew and commercial pilots to complete upset training.
