The Opportunity: Intentional Fantasy

So, here’s the question.

If the gamer lives in fantasy — and the simmer pursues realism — what happens when the simmer intentionally borrows from the gamer?  Not to dilute the experience — but to enhance it.

Because in real-world training, we already do this.

A while back, I was up in Oshkosh attending an Experimental Aircraft Association seminar on “The Startle Effect.”

The Startle Response in 57 Seconds

More videos at Federal Aviation Administration

Pilots were paired with instructors and put through a structured exercise.

The scenario was simple:

• Unexpected engine failure.

What wasn’t simple was the expectation.

We were being evaluated on: 

•  how quickly we recognized the problem
•  how quickly and effectively we responded
•  and how well we executed the outcome:
• exercised control
• found a suitable landing area
• set up the approach
• flew it to a safe conclusion.

The test required everything — training, experience, decision-making.

But it also required something else:

• we had to believe it
• because the engine hadn’t actually failed
• and the situation wasn’t real.

And yet, for the exercise to have value, it had to feel real enough that our reactions were.

That’s not pure realism — that’s constructed experience — that’s intentional fantasy.

There’s a difference between being startled… and being stunned.

• Startled, you react.
• Stunned, you freeze.

In the cockpit, that distinction matters.

An engine failure on takeoff will startle every pilot. That’s human. That’s expected.

But the risk isn’t the startle — it’s the moment that follows.

If the pilot processes the event, transitions to action, and flies the airplane, the outcome is still theirs to shape.

If the pilot becomes stunned — if recognition lags, if action pauses, if the mind hesitates even for a few seconds — the window begins to close.

That’s where training lives.

Why It Matters

That same principle applies directly to the home simulator.

Not by making it less realistic — but by using its flexibility to intentionally introduce situations that force us to think, react, adapt and repeat - safely.

The value of simulation doesn’t come from how closely it mirrors reality.  It comes from what it can demand of the pilot.

And sometimes, the most effective way to make that demand... is through intentional fantasy.

Your thoughts,

Kenneth (Ken) Butterly, Founder