Industry News - December

Growing Asia Pacific and Russian regions

The new purchases of the full flight simulators seem to confirm the predictions of global growth in aviation industry. In December, 2012, Chinese and Russian companies bought four Level D full-flight simulators (FFS), two each company. The purchase include the first two FFSs, associated training devices and the CAE Augmented Engineering Environment (AEE) for the new C919 aircraft being developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC). They also include two simulators, a Boeing 737NG and a Bombardier CRJ200, to Russian aviation equipment company NITA (New Information Technologies in Aviation).

The two C919 CAE 7000 Series FFSs will incorporate the new third-generation CAE TroposTM-6000 visual system. They will be ready for use at SACSC in 2015, prior to the aircraft’s expected entry into service. Next to that, two Level 5 Flight and Maintenance Training Devices (FMTDs) will be provided.

The Boeing 737NG FFS for NITA will be deployed in 2013 to the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School in Ulyanovsk, Russia. The CRJ200 FFS will be deployed to the Saint-Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, also in 2013. NITA is acquiring the simulators on behalf of the Federal Air Transport Agency, part of the Ministry of Transport of Russia.

‘The growing shortage of pilots in Asian regions raises a need of increased aviation training infrastructure. There is no doubt that such purchases are only the beginning of the investment into the present and especially future aviation industry in these regions’, said Gediminas Talacka, the Manager of SimHelp.

Aviation fever

With a rapidly growing aviation industry, the world’s attention to it grows together. The predictions of huge aviation personal shortage in the next 20 years cause many discussions in the media society. As a result to this aviation hunger, SimHelp notices that more and more world’s aviation museums open their Full Flight Simulators for public, and more and more journalists experience flights in order to convey more realistic message to the society.

In the end of a year 2012, Kansas Aviation museum opened an F-4J simulator for public. A restored F-4J fighter plane cockpit allows prospective pilots an opportunity to fly the aircraft for a 30- or 90-minute session. Once in the plane, pilots are in full control of the throttle, altitude, speed, steering and all other aspects of flying. Justin Messenger, the director of the museum’s aircraft ramp says that being a simulator with mostly analog parts, it is an authentic re-creation of the 1967 aircraft. ‘Most of the interior is original. It is actually pretty rare to have an F-4 with this much of it intact. ‘

The Santa Monica museum of Flying also delivered a new attraction for the visitors of the museum – the MaxFlight high definition, 3D virtual reality flight simulator FS3000. The Simulator with a 360 degree full range of motion can carry two passengers. As the museum announces, ‘The pitch and roll technology is patented by MaxFlight and no other simulator has the same capability as the FS3000. There are multiple different flight scenarios and dozens of different aircraft that come with the unit.’

Furthermore, more aviation journalists experience the piloting themselves. We already wrote in our last newsletter about the editor of AINonline, Matt Thurber, who went for an initial type rating training in the Full Flight Simulator. This time SimHelp wants to salute the Aviation Week journalist Jason Pour who tested the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner with the help of experienced pilots. To see the video please visit http://youtu.be/-s9ynMnPdCQ

On behalf of the SimHelp team, we want to encourage everyone to dive in to the aviation world. We believe that such attention to this industry would help to discover new world of possibilities, especially for the younger generation which possibly will fill the future aviation professionals shortage.

Frasca: The Benefits And Pitfalls Of Simulator Training

According to Frasca, simulators can effect time and cost of flight training, although in order to do that, companies should put more effort in answering the question, which simulator technology is best for them.
Today, companies usually focuse on two key factors: The ability of students to transfer learned skills into the cockpit; and the ability of both – the school and the student – to maintain an acceptable financial costs throughout the process. In Frasca’s view, effective flight simulation should maximize the efficient transfer of skills from the simulator to the aircraft, what the company calls “transfer of training“. The best transfer of training is achieved through simulators that provide the most accurate replication of the flight environment. According to the article on Avweb.com, it consists of the best aerodynamic simulation, the most accurate flight deck replication, and, wherever possible, integration of qualified aircraft-specific motion and visuals.

With a wide range of simulation possibilities users may get confused. Talking about full-motion or no motion simulators, Frasca has their own opinion. Qualified Full Flight Simulators (Levels B, C, D, CG) require validated six-axis motion. For full qualification, the motion cues provided by the simulation must be validated against actual flight test data. Sadly, it is not always a case. Students who learn techniques, based on inaccurate cues, may need to un-learn or re-learn skills in the aircraft before they can become proficient, quoted the same article.