Bell Helicopter’s worldwide customer service and support effort took a major step forward today with the official opening of its first Bell Training Academy outside the U.S. The new center is located at sister company Textron Aviation’s Citation Service Center facility at Valencia Airport in Spain. The first operations at the new center are for initial, type and recurrent training in a new level-D, Bell 429-configured simulator manufactured by Bell sister company TRU Simulation + Training.
The new Bell Training Academy marks the first step in the company’s ambitions to place training and support closer to its customers. Speaking at a briefing before the formal unveiling, Bell Helicopter executive v-p of customer services and support Glenn Isbell Jr. said, “This facility is [also] our first foray into having a training facility with TRU and is a great opportunity. We’re trying to get closer to the customer and understand what customer needs are and how we can add value by providing a local offering.”
Bell Helicopter is “trying to get closer to our customers and understand what they need, and show them that we can add value by providing a local offering,” and it is taking steps toward that goal with the opening of a European training center. The facility in Valencia, Spain, is the company’s first training center outside the U.S.
The centerpiece of the new center, which is incorporated into parent company Textron’s existing Citation Service Center, is the Bell 429 Odyssey H Level-D simulator manufactured by TRU Simulation + Training (another Textron property). The device has a 240- by 80-degree curved, seamless visual system.
AIN was able to experience the TRU simulator, which has two motion platforms—both electrically actuated. One moves the main platform and the other creates vibration for better simulation of the helicopter feel. A flight over Hong Kong International Airport conducting simulated autorotations illustrated the realism of the device.
The device offers several advantages over previous simulators: an Apple iPad can be used to replicate the instructor station, instructors can change scenarios in less than a minute, and the cockpit can be swapped out for another aircraft. The Valencia center has another simulator bay available that is likely to be for an airplane type, scheduled to be in place by year-end. Paris and Geneva are also certified as visual environments.
The training facility already has accreditation from various countries, along with the EASA. A Bell 429 type rating involves 22 to 24 hours of ground school and 12 hours in the simulator, and takes two weeks (10 business days); recurrent training requires seven hours' training, 4.5 of them in the sim, and takes three days to complete. For EASA training, two hours' training and a skills test in the actual helicopter is then required to complete the type rating. Not all national aviation authorities require this.
The facility builds on the company's previous investment in the region. A year ago Bell opened a new paint shop and completion center at its MRO facility in Prague, Czech Republic. The Swedish National Police and Turkish National Police are among the key European customers, said Glenn Isbell, Bell v-p for customer services and support, adding that “there are some other tenders out there” for more orders, “specifically for the 429."
Ray Lamas, general manager for global customer training, said “our customers love our training but want it in their regions. It’s been a fantastic joint project [with TRU] and shows the power of pairing a manufacturer with a simulator company. We find it to be as close as you can get to the actual product.” The company reports strong interest from Latin American customers as well.
Jacub Hoda, managing director of Bell Europe and Russia, said the new facility shows “Bell’s commitment to Europe. We’ve been here 40 years and have a repair facility in the UK [Rotor Blades at Warminster] and our Prague facility, so we can now deliver from Prague to our European customers. It’s the second largest rotorcraft market in the world and we see huge potential still.” He added that before the 429, Bell had only 4 percent of European helicopter orders, whereas it now accounts for 20 percent, “despite the worldwide market,” which has seen the 1,300-helicopter order book three years ago fall to “only 500 last year.” However, he noted that the 429 has proved particularly popular with parapublic operators, and the company is “constantly improving the product. For example we just made the first sale of the wheeled landing-gear variant of the 429, for a private operator in Austria.”