Transfer effect study of a virtual borescope in training aircraft maintenance technicians

Air traveling has become a very common means of transportation. It is even common knowledge that planes are safer than cars; however, this statement does not hold truth in cases where reliable inspections are not performed.;One of the most important aspects of aircraft inspection is the versatile field of Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI), which can be performed with an array of tools including the eddy current, the dye penetrant and, the tool of interest for this study, the borescope.;As indicated by its name, an NDI allows inspection without taking apart the components of that being inspected. The borescope holds interest not only because of the costs reduction it allows in aircraft inspection due to its nature of NDI tool, but also because this technology is also used in other fields such as medicine. In fact, the endoscope used by surgeons can be considered as the borescope for the human body; it requires the same skills from its manipulator and functions the same way.;The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has acknowledged training as an important tactic to improve the trustworthiness of inspection. Typically, training for aircraft maintenance is done on the job, by having the trainee observe experts while they are completing the task, and by allowing him/her a few minutes with the tools. This training system will quickly become obsolete as the expert population grows narrower and the trainees will have less opportunity for observation. It is therefore vital to come up with an efficient alternative.;Virtual Reality and other Computer Based Technologies (CBT) are growing in popularity and being applied to more fields. Some studies even suggest that CBT make decent training tools. A simulator was thus created as training equipment for students in Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) programs.;This study was conducted to test the transfer of the skills learned with this simulator into the real world. For this purpose, data from seventeen students in the AMT program of Greenville Technical College was analyzed. These subjects were quasi-randomly separated into two independent groups. The only caution taken during this assignment was to ensure a similar average Grade Point Average between the groups.;The control group underwent enhanced traditional training, allowing each student manipulation of the borescope for cumulatively more than one hour. Subjects in the treatment group had the same amount of training but using only the simulator. Objective data was taken to assess the group's performance on the simulator after each session of training.;The comparison between both groups was made using objective data, collected while the subjects went through a test on a real engine and using the real borescope, and subjective ratings they gave their respective training system after a minimalist contact with their tool, and at the end of the study.;Results showed that performance was not statistically different between the two groups; however, the subjective ratings show that improvements could be made to the simulator as its users do not feel confident of the transferability of the skills learned while using it.;This study can be used as a stepping stone in the determination of the most efficient total duration of training as it provides an upper bound. Future research might also be needed to design the most optimal length of single sessions of training, or determine the applicability of this simulator in training future endoscopists. Further research using larger samples, eliminating any trainer effect, and integrating students from different AMT programs and cultural backgrounds would allow the globalization of these results.;It is, however, to be noted that this study justifies the use of the simulator as a better alternative to the traditional method of training. On account of this validation, colleges have the opportunity to improve the training given to students in their AMT programs, enhancing thus the quality of inspections performed by those students in the field, which directly links to safer flights and lives spared.