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 Comm1 startup screen, with lesson choices easily available from the list at the upper left. |
t's
not often that something truely new in the realm of computer software
comes along, so when I heard about Comm1 VFR Radio Simulator
I jumped at the chance to give it a try.
Comm1 is a training aid intended primarily for student pilots to
train them in proper radio communications. It simulates the
interaction between a pilot and various types of air traffic control
and other radio stations pilots communicate with. It also serves as
a good review for licensed pilots on proper techniques especially in
situations they may not often run into.
 Each lesson starts with a briefing in which the lesson scenario is described. |
Other than sound equipment, the requirements for operation are very
minimal: 486/66 PC, 4x CD-ROM drive, 16 megs of RAM, 8 megs hard
disk space. Since Win95 won't run on anything much less than this
it's unlikely that these requirements will be a problem.
 The student practices tuning a realistic King radio stack as part of each lesson. |
The one seeming problem I found with Comm1 cropped up here. The briefing
on many of these lessons tell you that you will be practicing, for
example, saying phonetic letters but then doesn't seem to give you any
way to actually do what it says. The introduction to the program states
that these first lessons have briefings only and no actual practice and
that seems to be true, but the lessons themselves then seem to be in
disagreement.
 During the practice portion of each lesson the student chooses what to say from multiple choices displayed on the screen and speaks his choice into the mic for later comparison with an expert. |
Most lessons consist of three parts: Briefing, Practice and Debriefing. The Briefing section sets up the simulation scenario. Your location at the airport or in the airspace surrounding it is described along with what exactly you as pilot want to do next. Once you understand everything, it's time to actual do it.
The Practice section usually has multiple parts. You'll usually have
to find the radio frequency that you want to communicate on, using your
choice of several standard pilot references available built-in to the
program. You'll next have to properly tune your radio to that frequency,
which is done on realistic looking King radios (that happen to look
exactly like the radio stack in my Piper Archer...very realistic).
 At the end of each lesson is a debriefing in which the lesson is reviewed and the student can compare their communications against that of an expert. |
Depending on the situation there may be only a single communication and response or there may be several back and forth communications. When the situation is completed you go into the Debriefing section. The scenario is reviewed and you can now play back the full communication sequence, including your voice as recorded, and compare how you sound to how an expert would sound in the identical situation. By hearing yourself improvement should be possible in clearer pronunciation and use of terminology.
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All in all, Comm1 offers anyone wishing to learn proper aviation radio communications a realistic way to study and practice in their own home.
Nels Anderson
Email:
nels@flightsim.com