Simulator sickness is a form of motion sickness caused by physical and/or visual motion in a simulator. Compared to motion sickness, the symptoms tend to include more visual disturbances than gastrointestinal issues. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, eye strain, feelings of warmth, headache, disorientation, and fatigue. What causes this is a conflict between the vestibular, visual, and proprioreceptive senses and pilot’s expectations based on past flight experience. As such, pilots with high amounts of actual aircraft experience are more susceptible to simulator sickness than students with little flight time in the actual aircraft. Flight time aside, some pilots are able to adapt very quickly to simulator training and others have a more difficult time.
Any flight simulator has the potential to cause simulator sickness, however rotor wing simulators are known to cause higher rates of simulator sickness compared to fixed wing ones. Helicopters simulators generally have larger visual areas and this increases the potential for a conflict. Some maneuvers require hovering close to objects which amplifies any discrepancy between what the pilot sees and feels versus expectations.
Several techniques and restrictions have been developed to help reduce this phenomenon in helicopter pilots:
- Limit session duration to 2 hours daily
- Having the pilot close their eyes before freezing the visuals or repositioning the aircraft
- Limit hover and autorotation training until the pilot can adapt to the simulator
- Careful maintenance to eliminate any optical distortion caused by misaligned or poorly calibrated optics
- Maintain health and be well rested
- Insure adequate ventilation and cooling in the simulator
Flight simulators are a safe and cost effective alternative to actual flight and are an invaluable tool for training. As helicopter pilots are exposed to simulators more, the propensity for simulator sickness decreases. As technology and computer processing power continue to evolve helicopter simulators will also improve.