The modular simulator concept has been proposed as a means of reducing the cost of training devices. With this approach a number of different self-contained, single function subsystems consisting of a processor, local memory, I/O, and related trainer hardware are combined. A local area network is used to link the subsystems into a complete trainer. There are a number of practical difficulties with implementing this approach. As an alternative, a parallel processor architecture is proposed in which a single parallel computer is used with a single I/O system. All processors share tasks and have equal access to shared memory and to the I/O bus. An experiment was conducted employing this architecture in an existing helicopter OFT. The results of the experiment indicate that the parallel processor approach is a more practical, cost effective solution than the modular simulator approach. A major benefit is that spare processors can be available on-line to replace failed processors automatically with no interruption of training.