or something happens during a practice auto that leads to an inadvertant touchdown (wind shift to a tail wind during the flare makes the level/cushion sporty...as does a water bottle jamming between the collective and the armor wing on the seat).
re: WAATS sim, we have permission to use it and log currency for Contact, EP, and 50% of our Instrument approach requirements from ACC. Trying to get permission to do every other DLQ there to reduce trips to NASNI, but ACC won't currently accept the Navy paperwork allowing the Army sim to be used for this purpose IAW the DLQ MOU, because the Navy paperwork isn't dated. Even though it's attached to the most current MOU. We cannot log sim refresher at this sim b/c we don't have the capability to conduct the rest of the sim refresher syllabus, namely CRM refresher (systems and tac academics aren't cosmic), since no one in our community is a certified CRM facilitator.
The WAATS sim only benefits the DM units anyway, since everyone else would still have to go TDY to use it. Plus, since it's not our cockpit or systems setup (the Lima had differences in the hydraulic system), so it's not a perfect solution. No collective trim, our nav system replaced with the IFR-certified GPS, buttons on the cyclic and collective are different, no FLIR/HDD, etc. We'll send a crew up there occasionally to keep the hands warm, etc, but it definitely doesn't replace flying in the real bird. Even with the Sikorsky aero package (unlike the bastardized T-38 aero package we have in the ones at Kirtland), it still doesn't feel right.