Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Bombardier is expanding its Montreal, Canada, training centre with the addition of a full-flight simulator and flight training device (FTD) for the Global Express long range business jet. An FTD for the Challenger 604 business jet will be added later this year, joining an existing simulator.
The Global Express simulator and FTD, manufactured by CAE, are scheduled to be approved before the aircraft is certificated in June, says the company. The simulator will receive interim Level C training approval, and is scheduled to be upgraded to full Level D standard in 1999 when comprehensive aircraft data is available.
The FTD is a Level 7 device, essentially a flight simulator without motion or visual systems. The device will be used for pilot and maintenance training. The Challenger FTD, also to be built by CAE, will be a Level 5 device simulating aircraft systems and avionics cockpit.
The device will enter service in the fourth quarter and is to be used to train crews upgrading from previous Challenger models.
The Global Express training programme is based on that established for the Challenger 604, the first business jet for which an approved simulator was available to train pilots ahead of the first delivery. "The Global Express is scheduled to be the first business aircraft programme in the industry to provide two fully certified flight training devices before aircraft certification," says David Orcutt, general manager customer support.
Bombardier's Montreal centre, meanwhile, has become the first non-US site to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification under new FAR Part 142 rules designed to standardise training centre programmes.
Source: Flight International
