Extends Training Relationship That Has Lasted More Than 20
Years
The Texas Department of Public Safety has signed a simulator
training contract with American Eurocopter’s Training Center
in Grand Prairie, Texas. The contract allows the Texas DPS to dry
lease American Eurocopter’s AS350 Level B Full Flight
Simulator (FFS) so that DPS instructors can train their own
pilots.
To facilitate the simulator training, three DPS Area Training
Officers have already completed AS350 Simulator instructor courses
at American Eurocopter’s Training Center. Training was
scheduled to begin on Monday.
“This contract emphasizes the appeal of our AS350 Level B
FFS and highlights one of the ways we can work with our customers
to meet their training requirements,” explained Del
Livingston, American Eurocopter Vice President of Flight Operations
and Training. “Our American Eurocopter training team has
worked with the Texas DPS since the early 1990’s. We are
excited to continue our long relationship and working with them as
they incorporate the latest technology into their training program
and helping them take advantage of the value and benefits of our
simulator training.”
“We have been training with American Eurocopter for more
than 20 years,” said Bill Nabors, Texas DPS Chief Pilot.
“Training with the manufacturer allows us to take advantage
of their expertise and to standardize our training. By
incorporating American Eurocopter’s advanced AS350 simulator
into our training program, we can do more training in a shorter
amount of time. It also allows us to maximize our training budget
without incurring additional maintenance costs, and we can train
anytime day or night, regardless of the weather.”
American Eurocopter’s AS350 Level B FFS was designed to
provide flight and mission training. Programs are customizable for
individual customer missions, environments and scenarios. It is
equipped with a full-motion platform and is convertible from AS350
B2 to AS350 B3. It has a full cabin for “true” Crew
Resource Management (CRM) training and features VEMD, NVG, auto
pilot, FLIR Star Safire III (including hand controller, TV and IR
mode), AeroComputers moving map, and a SpectraLab SX-16 slaved
searchlight.
The AS350 Level B FFS provides training options for aircraft
emergency procedures, CRM, NVG, Helicopter Emergency Medical
Services (HEMS), and Airborne Law Enforcement (ALE). After the
training period, flight crews will review their training experience
at the Debriefing Station, which doubles as a Tactical Command
Console for Chief Pilots, Unit Commanders and Incident Commanders
to direct the parameters of the simulation.