Virtual reality (VR) is becoming the norm in the gaming industry and is being increasingly used for training in industries such as healthcare, tourism, and education. For decades aviation has used various levels of simulation to enable pilots to acquire and maintain skills, yet the process is costly, time consuming and inflexible. These factors, and that of providing a standardised pilot training syllabus, has led to predictable simulator scenarios which trainees rehearse, promoting rote learning. This leads to an inability to recognise and react appropriately to variations encountered in real life, thus compromising safety. Additionally, due to recent pilot shortages and lack of simulator availability, pilots are being trained with the minimum number of regulated hours, and yet the validity of equalling flight hours to sufficient experience is questionable. Recent advances in immersive technologies have piqued interest in VR for pilot training since it may offer a more effective solution than traditional full flight simulators (FFSs). However, the aviation industry is yet to embrace immersive technologies since there is very little empirical evidence of their suitability and a lack of human factors design. Subsequently, the overarching aim of this research program was to explore the application of professional pilot training competencies in VR and provide empirical evidence to support their efficacy. [...]