Coulson Aviation has acquired two Level D simulators from CAE, one of the two UH-60A/L machines and the world’s only example of CH-47D equipment.
The simulators, which are night-vision-goggle (NVG) compatible and undergoing significant upgrades, will be located in a new facility at Coulson’s base near Palm Springs in Thermal, California. The enhancements include a high-fidelity image generator and projection system, upgraded avionics packages, and new operating systems and databases.
“As the only company conducting NVG firefighting operations with large aircraft, training and currency is paramount to Coulson,” said Mel Ceccanti, Director of Flight Operations – Rotorcraft at Coulson Aviation. “We have an extensive training programme for initial pilot hires and for annual pilot recurrency that are twice as intensive as anyone else in the industry. These NVG-compliant simulators further strengthen that programme, greatly expanding our rotorcraft training and assuring our flight crews meet the highest standards.
“The CH-47 sim allows us to simulate 490 aircraft system failures while the Black Hawk simulator can simulate over 561 failures,” Ceccanti added. “We can run our pilots through the gauntlet without the expense, wear, and risk of training in the helicopter. The simulators are extremely realistic – the cockpit, seats, and flag controls are identical to what we have in our aircraft, to the point that the whole simulator shakes as you’re flying along like a real helicopter. It’s a very realistic experience, which will be more so after our high-fidelity upgrades.”
The simulators are already in Thermal and are expected to enter service in 2024.
