JUSTIN WASTNAGE / GENEVA
FlightSafety International (FSI) is close to completing its first wholly interactive simulation classroom, with training modules on three business jet models likely to be the first available. The company's Tulsa, Oklahoma-based software engineers are finalising capability to enable up to 24 student terminals to control three flight databases simultaneously, creating a "virtual simulator".
Currently, pilots undertake about two weeks' initial training in classrooms with passive terminals, displaying one aspect of the aircraft's characteristics at a time. The new training device synthesises all the aircraft's motion, instrument systems and visual data into dynamic displays unique to each student.
The aim is to provide as much simulator experience as possible before pilots go to the hydraulic simulator, says FSI. The new system will be launched within "a few months" and it says a "current and popular" business jet model will be the system's launch model. The new system will be installed at one of FSI's centres in Savannah, Georgia; Wichita, Kansas; or Tucson, Arizona.
Source: Flight International
