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.

FMI: www.eurocopter.com