City-based Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (Hatsoff)—a joint venture of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE—on Thursday announced that one of its simulator cockpits has got certification of Level D.
Level D is the highest qualification for flight simulators. Hatsoff has got the certification for Eurocopter AS365 N3 Dauphin helicopter. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have given the certification.
Hatsoff also announced that its three simulator cockpits—a Bell 412, a HAL civil/conventional Dhruv, and the Eurocopter AS365 N3 Dauphin—have been certified as Level 2 (JAR)/Level 6 (FAA) flight-training devices (FTDs) when used as fixed-base, non-motion simulators in the docking station installed at the facility.
Hatsoff uses a CAE-built full-mission simulator “mothership”, which features CAE’s roll-on/roll-off cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various types of helicopter to be used in the full-mission simulator.
When one cockpit is in the full-motion and full-mission simulator, another cockpit can be connected to the fixed-based docking station and used as a flight-training device.
“We are very proud of the progress we are making at Hatsoff, and achieving Level D certification for the Eurocopter Dauphin helicopter simulator at our facility is yet another example (of our capability),” said Wing Commander (Retd) Chandra Datt Upadhyay, chief executive officer of Hatsoff.
“Hatsoff is a first-of-its-kind helicopter simulation training centre in India, and we are excited about continuing to demonstrate how simulation-based training will prove to be one of the best approaches for improving safety, operational efficiency and mission readiness,” he added.
The cockpit for the Eurocopter AS365 N3 Dauphin, which can be utilised for training pilots flying the Dauphin N1/N2/N3 variants, is the third for the Hatsoff training centre.
The first cockpit delivered to Hatsoff represented the Bell 412 helicopter; training for Bell 412 operators began in July 2010.
The second cockpit delivered to Hatsoff represented the civil/conventional variant of Dhruv and training began in May 2011.
An additional cockpit for the Indian Army/Air Force glass cockpit variant of the HAL-built Dhruv is expected to be added to the Hatsoff training centre later in 2012.
Comments