French helicopter training services company Hélisim plans to offer four fully certificated Level D Eurocopter simulators by year-end after it gains European Joint Aviation Authorities approval.
Hélisim was founded last February as a joint venture between Eurocopter and Thales Training & Simulation, which hold 45% each, with the French defence investment agency DCI owning the rest (Flight International, 26 February-3 March 2002).
The launch customer was the Royal Netherlands Air Force, which signed a 15-year contract for training on the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar/Super Puma Mk2 simulator. Until the company receives European certification for the simulators, it can only offer training courses to military and certain non-JAA civilian operators, says Patrick Moulay, Hélisim commercial director.
Marseilles-based Hélisim received JAA certification for the Eurocopter AS332 L1 Super Puma simulator in April and predicts demand for 2,000h a year. The certification took 14 months and was the first helicopter full flight simulator to receive approval from the French civil aviation authority, the DGAC. Moulay says he expects subsequent approvals to be much speedier, since the DGAC now "understands the process a lot better".
Hélisim expects approval for the Super Puma next month, with the AS365 N3 Dauphin to follow in September "at the latest". Delivery of the data packages for the EC155 enhanced Dauphin is now due in September, following a three-month software delay. Moulay predicts certification of the fourth simulator will take around 12 weeks. The company uses two full-motion simulator bases with interchangeable cockpits.
Hélisim plans to sell around 7,000h in all four simulators next year, mostly to offshore helicopter operators for pilot type certification.
Source: Flight International
