Training and flight testing to take off simultaneously
Airbus will have an A380 full flight simulator (FFS) for pilot training already operating as the first test aircraft takes off for its maiden flight, reveals the manufacturer's vice-president training and flight operations support Jean-Michel Roy. Canadian simulator manufacturer CAE is building the simulator at its Montreal plant, and as Airbus has created the control software for the aircraft it has been supplying the code to CAE for conversion to simulation language.
Roy says the normal practice has been for the pilot training FFS to be ready soon after the aircraft's entry into airline service, with only engineering simulators operational during the test programme. Airbus has engineering simulators at its Toulouse St Martin plant linked to the "iron bird" A380 test airframe as it is put through its paces. In the case of the A380, the FFS will be ready for pilot training well before service entry, so early customer airlines can send their pilots to Airbus Training for a type conversion programme similar to one they would undergo with an aircraft that has been in service for some time. Previously, the first airline customers for a new type would send their training pilots for type conversion by completing the technical and systems course, then taking part in the last stages of the test and route-proving programme flying alongside the manufacturer's pilots.
An advantage in the case of the A380's development, says Roy, is that its control software can be modified to drive simulators, so the need - as with previous types - to supply raw performance data for the simulator companies to turn into software does not exist. Although Airbus is working with CAE to provide the first A380 simulator for its Toulouse-based training organisation, Roy remarks: "It could have been Thales. You have to start somewhere."
As the aircraft goes through its flight-test programme any differences to the aircraft's real handling and performance that show up can be loaded instantly into the simulator, providing a ready-for-use software package for simulator manufacturers as the aircraft approaches airline service.
DAVID LEARMOUNT / TOULOUSE
Source: Flight International
