Draxon has released a virtual reality de-icing training course, developed in eight weeks, that lets ground handlers rehearse aircraft spraying procedures without pulling a single de-icing truck from operational service. The course runs on standalone VR headsets, so handlers need neither dedicated simulator hardware nor physical de-icing equipment.

The package, delivered through Draxon's VR training application, contains seven lessons across two modules. Topics cover de-icer components, controls, safety features and aircraft de-icing techniques.

Trainees operate a virtual de-icing vehicle with an enclosed operator cabin and a 12-meter telescopic boom. That boom length matters in practice: it is the kind of reach that, on a real ramp, would otherwise occupy a truck and its crew for a full training session.

What does the simulator actually measure?

After learning the equipment's controls and fluid types, operators practice spraying on a simulated aircraft wing, working from the wingtip toward the wing root. The application scores each trainee on four parameters:

• completion time
• fluid consumption
• spray sequence
• spray distance

The training also addresses no-spray zones and procedures that apply to other de-icing equipment and other aircraft types. That breadth matters for handlers whose fleets and customers change with the season.

The economics of not spraying fluid

According to Draxon, the VR approach allows ground handlers to train throughout the year without consuming de-icing fluid or removing equipment from operational service. For an industry that otherwise compresses de-icing training into the pre-winter window, when trucks and glycol are in demand for real flights, that is the operative claim. It is a manufacturer's assertion, of course; handlers will judge it against their own simulator-hour and fluid costs.

"De-icing training can become faster, more flexible, and more cost-effective," said Paul Schwarzenholz, founder and CEO of Draxon. Schwarzenholz noted the course was built in eight weeks and designed around SAE de-icing training standards.

What comes next

Additional lessons covering tail de-icing, full-aircraft procedures and a scored assessment are scheduled for release in the coming weeks. The current release, in other words, is a first tranche rather than a finished syllabus.

Draxon plans to demonstrate the course at the SAE G-12 Aircraft Ground Deicing Steering Group meeting in Montreal, running Oct. 19-22. That venue is apt: the G-12 committee writes the de-icing standards the course claims to follow, and the demonstration will show whether the scored assessment arrives in time to face its examiners.