Aviation is seeing major advances in technology, both in the air and on the ground. These changes are placing increasing demands on pilots and operators. Pilots are in short supply, and with the multi-crew pilot’s licence about to be introduced, suppliers of training devices are facing fresh challenges. Canadian simulator manufacturer and training provider CAE believes its new CAE 5000 full-flight simulator answers some of these challenges.
"We believe we have brought to our customers the most innovative solution designed specifically to meet evolving training requirements brought about by
new regulations, new aircraft types and emerging markets," says group president, simulation products and military training and services, Marc Parent.
"The CAE 5000 Series meets market demands for lower acquisition costs, reduced lifecycle costs and faster delivery times,” he says.
The 5000 Series is specifically designed for narrowbody aircraft, training schools and the emerging MPL and very light jet training programmes. It is likely that the 5000 will form the basis for the CAE-Embraer joint venture training initiative for the Phenom 100 VLJ and 300 light jet.
The new simulator comes in two models with list prices of C$8-11 million ($7-9.5 million): the 5200 is aimed at recurrent training and is upgradeable to the more expensive 5400 Level D device suitable for initial training. Cost-reducing features include electric motion and PC-based visual system with liquid-crystal-on-silicon projectors. "The device has a smaller footprint ─ where a training centre can fit six traditional simulators it can get nine 5000s," says Parent.
Although the simulator does not use aircraft parts, it uses the same software models as CAE's Level D simulators. With narrowbodies forecast to account for 60% of deliveries over the next 20 years, target customers include repeat buyers of simulators for high-volume aircraft and smaller airlines moving to in-house training.
Training schools exemplify the market, says Parent, because they want a standard simulator that is not "tail-specific". The company has also announced the 7000 ─ a "refresh" of its customised, tail-specific Level D simulator aimed at the widebody market.
Source: Flight Daily News
