PlaneEnglish Aviation Communication Simulator Provides New Way to Help Pilots

PlaneEnglish, a popular app-based aviation radio simulator that helps pilots become more proficient in communication, now has a co-pilot: a new companion manual that provides even more in-depth content so pilots can master the mic even faster.

PlaneEnglish, a simulator created by three Purdue University alumni, is an app-based aviation radio simulator to help new pilots acquire radio communication proficiency by developing advanced skills in more realistic environments.

The new training manual provides a detailed breakdown of aviation radio communications for Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and can be used as a guide so users can get the most out of the app. The manual offers greater detail, helpful illustrations, a glossary of phrases and aviation terms, standard radio procedures, and examples of common communication exchanges between pilots and air traffic control.

“Aviation communication is one of the biggest sources of anxiety for pilots, especially those who train at smaller airports,” said Muharrem Mane, one of the co-founders. “What our PlaneEnglish simulator has demonstrated is that learning effective radio communication is easy and actually fun if you break the process up into small steps and provide scenarios for practicing. Coupled with our new manual, PlaneEnglish not only builds up pilots’ confidence in radio communication, it helps keep our aviation community safe.”

Mane, an alumnus of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Eren Hadimioglu, an alumnus of the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology; and Sam Dickson, an alumnus of the Department of Computer Science, created and developed PlaneEnglish. The technology’s simulator is used in dozens of airports across the U.S., and the team developed a version of the technology for civilian pilots.

PlaneEnglish lessons guide users through simple and complicated interactions with air traffic control on every phase of flight from taxi out, to takeoff, to airspace entrance, to approaches, to taxi in.

The PlaneEnglish team works out of the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, and the creators work closely with the Purdue Research Foundation as they develop their technology.