Comms: AI Pilot Training

Why look up home airport if the system is going to make up clearance instructions. Calling blind without knowing if I am going to talk to clearance delivery or ground first. Need to pick up weather so that should be a thing. There is a host of things and it should be addressed before using it as a trainer.

After reviewing this app, I would not recommend it to my students. It does not pick up well on the microphone, even when speaking clearly. It also does not give proper holding instructions. In a real life scenario, ATC would never tell me right turns or one minute legs when holding over a fix. Anyone who has passed their instrument check ride or is an instructor understands that right turns our standard and does not need to be said as well as one minute. Legs is also standard and does not need to be said. In a scenario where you are giving the direction of the turn, it would be only for left turns and anything outside of a one minute hold. However, the app told me “hold over the fix on the 104 radial right turns one minute expect for the clearance at 1328z.” When responding with a correct read back for holding over the fix on the 104 radial expect for their clearance at 1328z it said incorrect. This was me using a three day, free trial and on the app for only five minutes. I do not intend to try it out anymore. I have made up my mind.

Love the concept but the app needs better AI that can better handle and understand the natural shorthand pilot speech and all of its variations. If I don’t repeat everything exactly as it asks, it makes me repeat it over and over and over again, even though I’ve included all the required information in the way that my brain processes it. I also had my airline pilot friend try this app and he had the same issues. Still - a really great idea but it needs to let us speak more naturally.