Today, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority granted certification level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators, to the world’s first full flight simulator for the AgustaWestland 189 (AW189) helicopter.
The full flight simulator (FFS) project, known as Rotorism is a joint venture between CAE, a pioneer in simulation training for civil aviation and defence, and AgustaWestland, an Italian aerospace, defence and security company, which designs, develops, and distributes helicopters for defense and commercial operators across the globe.
The newly certified CAE 3000 Series AW189 FFS program is designed specifically for the AW189, an eight tonne multirole helicopter intended to operate in difficult conditions, such as those encountered by search and rescue operators and other demanding industries.
While the Global Helicopter Market is only growing at a modest CAGR of 2.6 percent from 2014-2018, flight simulators like AW189 FFS are taking off, in order to offer near-real experience and top-notch training to pilots in a controlled and cost-conscious situation.
According to TechNavio analysts, “initially, simulation-based helicopter training systems were highly criticized due to certain drawbacks such as lack of real climatic conditions, temperature, and other effects, compared to the real-time experience in original helicopters. Recently, manufacturers have improved the quality of simulation products on the demanded parameters to provide better solutions and value to customers.”
For example, another CAE training product, the Tropos-6000 Series, which is also used in helicopter flight training, has the following features:
- Physics-based sky simulation
- Layered fog
- 3D puffy clouds
- Falling snow, rain, hail
- Blowing effects (brownout/whiteout): snow, sand, dust
- Library of storm fronts
- 3D waves, whitecaps, ship wakes, blowing flames and smoke, water recirculation
- Winter and summer representations of airport scenes
In depth simulators like this are addressing some of the highlighted shortcomings of simulation products and becoming commonplace in most pilot training.
A release from Rotorim regarding the certification of the AW189 FFS echoes this sentiment stating, “The CAE 3000 Series helicopter mission simulator features unprecedented realism for helicopter-specific mission training, including offshore oil and gas producer (OGP), search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement and other types of operations. The simulator enables pilots to practice — without risk — challenging procedures such as low-level flight, confined area operations, autorotation and landing on platforms at sea.”
And with the civil aviation segment accounting for more than 65 percent of the global helicopter market, these sectors are instrumental to market growth during the forecast period.
“The cost of civil helicopters is less than defense helicopters; however, the overall revenue contribution of this segment is high due to the growing demand,” say TechNavio researchers.
“In the civil aviation segment, applications such as corporate application, general utility, and emergency medical services will actively contribute to future growth.”
For more information, view our Global Helicopter Market 2014-2018 report.
