FS3D - An Interactive Aerial Firefighting Training Tool for USAF MAFFS Flight Crews

The Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) Program is a partnership between the DOD and the U.S. Forest Service to provide AFRC/ANG C-130 aircraft and crews for aerial wildfire suppression. FS3D is a unique multiplayer, scenario-based training tool that combines a commercial off-the-shelf desktop flight simulator and virtual reality hardware with advanced wildfire behavior models to place MAFFS aircrews in a high-fidelity simulated wildland fire environment with multiple role players. The Phase I award will fund a feasibility study involving MAFFS aircrews to determine FS3D’s potential to augment existing MAFFS training, as well as validation of the aerial fire suppression model and a human performance and validity study of the effects on trainees during and after FS3D simulator sessions. The unique combination of realistic aircraft characteristics, as well as fire and suppression effects, make FS3D a valuable training aid for MAFFS crews and the international aerial wildland firefighting community.