Sim Industries may only have delivered only three Level D full-flight simulators since it entered the business in 2004, but that does not stop the privately held Dutch company from dreaming big. Chief executive Frank Uit den Boogaard says its first Airbus A320 simulator will be completed by the end of this year, joining the three Boeing 737-800 simulators now in operation, two in Europe and one in the USA.
After that? "Twin-aisle aircraft," says Uit den Boogaard, most likely the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 777. Although its simulators are built in serial production, he says parallel production in the company's new facility could boost the rate to 25-30 a year in the near future.
Although it is a minuscule player among industry giant peers such as CAE, FlightSafety, Mechtronix, Thales and others, industry observers say that Sim Industries products are generating a certain buzz among pilots based on the degree to which they look and fly like the actual aircraft.
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That reality in part comes from above average qualification test guide results, which measure the degree to which a simulator matches the aircraft manufacturer's actual performance data for certification. Uit den Boogaard says that around 90% of the hardware and software on the flightdeck is original equipment, often procured through licensing agreements, and reverse engineering is kept to a minimum.
"I want to walk into an aircraft, not a toy," Uit den Boogaard says.
Source: Flight International
