Training of general aviation pilots on the Global Positioning System

Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study was to examine whether flight training programs are adequately incorporating the training of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation procedures into ground and flight training programs. Participants in this study were collegiate aviation programs located throughout the U.S. that were listed in the University Aviation Association's (UAA) 1999 Collegiate Aviation Guide. Each participant was asked to complete a GPS Training Survey containing 39 questions divided into seven sections; Demographics, Ground Training, Training Aids, Flight Training, Instructors, Planned Purchases and Comments. A descriptive statistics approach was used to report and interpret findings with the results being displayed in histogram form using a nominal scale to provide the lowest level of quantification of the objectives to be measured.; Findings and conclusions. The following conclusions evolved from the data analyses: Flight training programs are not providing GPS ground training as a stand-alone class (3%) rather they are incorporating the training into existing courses (97%). Only six percent of students receive more than 2 hours of GPS specific training in the classroom with more than fifty percent receiving less than 1 hour. Flight training programs are slow at utilization of GPS as can be seen in the fact that 27% of the visual flight rules (VFR) training aircraft are GPS equipped with 13% equipped with non-certified and 14% a certified GPS receiver. Forty-nine percent of the instrument flight rules (IFR) equipped aircraft are GPS equipped with 11% using non-certified receivers and 38% certified units and 45% of all aircraft being GPS equipped. Seventy-eight percent of flight instructors teaching GPS techniques received formal training on GPS. Comparing student instructors to other students 93% of student instructors receive less than one hour of GPS classroom training and none receiving more than 2 hours compared to 55% of regular students receiving one hour or less and 6% at more than two hours. The commercial GPS training materials currently on the market are limited to a GPS Trainer to assist pilots in learning three of the major selling GPS systems using computer-based training (CBT).