Definition
A formal system used by manufacturers and operators of flight simulators and flight training devices to ensure each device continues to meet the performance, fidelity, and regulatory standards required for pilot training and checking. It covers documented procedures, scheduled testing, configuration control, fault tracking, and corrective action so that the simulator remains an accurate representation of the aircraft it models.
Plain English
It is the set of checks, records, and procedures that keeps a flight simulator behaving like the real aircraft, day after day, so training done in it actually counts.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight simulator qualification, simulator audits, training center procedures, and records that show whether a simulator may be used for approved training or checking.
Derivation
Simulation comes from a Latin word meaning to imitate or copy. That helps here because the system is not managing an actual airplane; it is managing the quality of a machine that imitates an airplane closely enough to be trusted for training.
Why Pilots Care
Training, checkrides, and recurrent qualifications conducted in a simulator only carry legal and practical value if that simulator is verified to fly and respond like the real aircraft. The quality management system is what gives that verification its weight.
Intuition Check
Do not read quality as a casual opinion that the simulator feels good or realistic. Here it means a controlled, documented process for proving the simulator continues to meet required standards.
Example Sentence 1
The training centre's Simulation Quality Management System flagged a small drift in the rudder response, and the device was scheduled for adjustment before the next checkride.
Example Sentence 2
Changes made under the Simulation Quality Management System restored accurate control loading after the last software update.