A fully reconfigurable part-task trainer is being developed by Denmark's Riso National Laboratory and Danish company Avitraco. The multi-aircraft training environment (MATE) looks like an ordinary simulator, but the aircraft instruments and controls are all reproduced on flat "virtual-panel" touch-screen displays, giving a representative environment.
The innovation, which has attracted European Commission funding, allows procedural training to be carried out for different aircraft types without the need for multiple devices.
Although in the early stages of work, the development team believes that the MATE will prove effective for smaller pilot-training establishments and has already verified its effectiveness using part of the Saab 340 training syllabus.
Source: Flight International
