Alsim will begin manufacturing flight simulators in the U.S. beginning in mid-2019. The company’s new facility in the Eastern U.S. will help increase production efficiency and facilitate installations in the U.S. as well as allow the use of more U.S.-made components. The new operation joins Alsim's existing U.S. office in Austin, Texas, and it will offer technical support, spare parts, and software development services.
Alsim also scored recent sales of its AL250 and AL172 simulators to three flight-training institutions. The deliveries include four AL250s and two AL172s to schools in Canada, the U.S., and Spain.
With more than 20 customers in North and South America, new devices and partners, and supporting training schools, Alsim sees U.S. production as “the next logical step,” said Mike Tonkin, Alsim after-sales and business development director. The company's expanded product range includes a type-specific Cessna 172 and a new Boeing 737/Airbus 320 hybrid. Alsim plans to produce a large number of the Cessna 172 and hybrid simulators in the U.S.
In Canada, Alsim delivered an AL250 simulator to Montair Aviation, marking Montair’s third Alsim simulator. “We are thrilled to add our third Alsim device to our fleet," said Blair Parrant, Montair director of flight operations. "Montair is growing and we feel very strongly about Alsim products and the benefits they bring to our students and our business. We are particularity excited about the AL250. It’s part of Alsim’s new generation of simulators with high-definition visuals, operating system, and newer Garmin avionics with GNSS that can do RNP and LPV approaches."
Kent State University’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering purchased two AL250s and two AL172s that will be installed in the school’s new aeronautics academic center. “This was a straightforward value-based decision," said interim dean Robert Sines. "The quality and fidelity of the AL250 and AL172 we’ve chosen are outstanding and will seamlessly merge into our existing flight-training operations, providing enhanced training opportunities for our students."
An AL250 simulator purchased by Fly-In-Spain will be the first AL250 to be installed in Spain. Hans Nerlinger, senior general manager of Fly-in-Spain, said, “We chose the AL250 because it’s LPV/PBN-approved which is, according to the new EASA regulation for instrument training, a mandatory requirement. The second important factor for us is that the aircraft models provided with the AL250 can be easily changed, with no required hardware changes, as this switch is only software-based.”