Eurocopter inaugurates new simulator.(AIR TRANSPORT BRIEFING)(Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH)

Eurocopter has officially inaugurated a newly installed training device for its EC135 light twin engine helicopter at the company's Donauwoerth site in Germany. A second facility is to follow very soon at American Eurocopter in Dallas, USA. The simulators will be ready for training in the second quarter of 2008 according to JAR-STD2H Level 3 and FAA-Part 60 FTD Level 6. Reservations started at this year's EBACE exhibition in May.

The simulators are being developed by Indra and CAE in cooperation with Eurocopter, thereby combining the best technical resources from Europe and America. They include a full-motion system with six degrees of freedom, an instructor station, simulation of all systems and optional equipment solutions, avionics system and full replica of the EC135 cockpit, sound system, original OEM simulation data package and a visual system field of view of 160 horizontal and 80 vertical daylight/dusk/night. The vertical field of view features also a -50[degrees] full chin window view. The visual database will feature detailed airports, heliports, helipads and platforms as well as realistic 3D moving models and full correlation between databases. Flight profiles will be adjustable to any customer's mission profile and any working environment.

Training courses offered by Eurocopter on these new training devices in Europe and the United States include standard and recurrent training such as type rating, emergency refresher, IFR, GPS approach and recurrency training; mission training such as night flight, NVG training, confined area procedures, day/night transit flight, crew reaction in deteriorating conditions (single engine, MET conditions, low fuel) as well as platform or rooftop landings; and tailored courses such as simulator handling for instructors, line oriented flight training, crew resource management, multicrew operation and ab-initio flight training.

Eurocopter already operates simulators for the Dauphin and Super Puma families of helicopters in its HeliSim facility in France, owned jointly with Thales, and the Helicopter Flight Training Services (HFTS) centre for the NH90 in Germany, owned jointly by Eurocopter, CAE, Rheinmetall Defence Electronics and Thales. As of 2008, American Eurocopter in the USA will additionally offer simulator facilities for the EC145 and the AS350, thereby further complementing the company's training services to its customers.

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