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Home Prescott Pioneer News

True Course Simulations Create VR Flight Training for Air Force Academy

August 10, 2022
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True Course Simulations officials (from left) AJ Smith, director of sales; Brett Watts, vice president; and Ken Watts, IT specialist, stand before one of the prototype virtual reality flight simulators being manufactured by TCS in its Prescott plant. (Photo by Ray Newton)

By Ray Newton

True Course Simulations grew from a small, isolated business in Prescott into one that now manufactures virtual reality (VR) flight simulators for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

AJ Smith, True Course director of sales, said the academy issued a contract for units to support operation of 40 simulators.

Company owner Ray Bedard said the new U.S. Air Force Academy agreement’s value is “comfortably over a million dollars.” Its first contract with the academy was signed in 2018-19.

Smith said True Course is the one of the few companies doing professional virtual reality.

“It’s the only company to develop a ‘virtual flight instructor’. VR allows educators to reduce substantially their students-to-instructor ratio,” Bedard said.

Formally called Immersive Training Devices, some users suggest that operating such a device is more difficult that piloting actual airplanes.

“Simulation isn’t meant to replace real airplanes,” Bedard said. “You must combine simulators and airplanes together for the things each of them is good at.”

Bedard started the company following his retirement from a 20-plus year career as a faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Previously, he had been in the Canadian Air Force.

Six full-time employees work for the company, 430 N. Mount Vernon Ave., including Bedard, Smith, IT Specialist Ken Watts and Brett Watts, an ERAU graduate and co-owner and vice president. Two more are full-time instructors at the Air Force Academy. Two part-time employees help with setting up machines.

True Course Simulations has built simulators for ERAU’s Daytona Beach campus. Four simulators are being constructed for a high school in Liberty Creek, Tennessee, and another eight for additional clients.

The company was invited to partner with Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, the largest U. S. aviation lobby group, at the world’s largest airshow — Air Venture, July 22-25, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

True Course manufactures two distinct simulator platforms. Both are about the size of a large rectangular table, with a large screen at the front. One is focused on simulation for flying a Cessna 172, a popular aircraft used for student pilot training. Other prototypes are in design, among them one for the Cirrus aircraft out of Duluth, Minnesota.

The second device is called “the fighter,” for aircraft which have a side or center “stick” rather than a yoke or control wheel as found in the Cessna and other planes.

The cost of the Cessna simulator is around $35,000. For the fighter unit, it’s a bit higher, around $38,000.

All simulators have virtual reality helmets praised as having amazing fidelity, realism, high impact graphics and sound appropriate to terrain over which aircraft are being flown.

Smith, the sales director, says considerable effort is dedicated to creating virtual reality videos, diagrams, development of tests and instructional diagrams. The curriculum — 73 missions in virtual reality — costs $495.

“Students can repeat VR missions until they are mastered. Think of the cost savings as opposed to taking lessons in a real airplane,” he said.

“We hope we can create enough awareness of our ITDs (Immersive Training Devices) to get them into every career and technical education program at high schools and colleges across the country,” Smith said.

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LOCAL NEWS: The Northern Arizona VA in Prescott has provided an update on their Homeless Veteran Program. . . .PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System’s Homeless Veteran Program, along with its community partners, housed 445 Veterans in 2022, exceeding their target goal by 157%.Nationally, the 2022 goal was to house 38,000 homeless Veterans— a goal that was exceeded by 6.3%. The Department of Veterans Affairs remains committed to ending Veteran homelessness and increasing housing placements is critical to achieving this goal.“This success is a result of efforts built on the evidence-based ‘Housing First’ approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the support they need to stay housed,” said Steve Sample, Medical Center Director.In Northern Arizona, there are a variety of services designed to house homeless Veterans. The VA’s Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program includes VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers that provide formerly homeless Veterans with subsidized housing and a wraparound, interdisciplinary case management team to address issues that may have contributed to homelessness. The program provides justice outreach services, employment services, health care services through the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team, outreach, and transitional housing support. The VA also works closely with community partners to house homeless Veterans through a system called Coordinated Entry, where community agencies along with the VA regularly meet to coordinate efforts and ensure homeless Veterans do not fall through the cracks.“We are fortunate that there is so much support for helping homeless Veterans in our area,” said Jessica Taylor, Homeless Program Coordinator for the Northern Arizona VA. “This success could not have been possible without great collaboration between our community partners, Housing Authorities, Tribal partnerships, and support from our local communities.”Looking ahead, the VA will continue to explore new avenues to house homeless Veterans and overcome housing barriers. In collaboration with U.S VETS, Gorman & Company, and the Arizona Department of Housing, a supportive housing project on the grounds of the VA’s Fort Whipple campus is in the initial planning stages. The VA is also expanding outreach to ensure that homeless Veterans are aware of services available to them. For Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness— or if you know of homeless Veterans in need of assistance, call 877-424-3838.For more information on renting to or hiring homeless Veterans, visit: www.va.gov/homelessAbout the Northern Arizona VA: Through its main campus in Prescott, along with Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Cottonwood, Flagstaff, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Anthem— with additional clinics in Tuba City, Page, Kayenta, Chinle, Holbrook, and Polacca, the Northern Arizona VA provides services to approximately 33,000 Veterans over a catchment area of more than 65,000 square miles.. . .www.facebook.com/VAPrescott ... See MoreSee Less

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Empty Bowls of Prescott Arizona has announced that it will distribute $24,000 to local foodbanks! Their 2022 Empty Bowls fundraising event took place in September, and donations can be made year round on their website.prescott-empty-bowls.square.site ... See MoreSee Less

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