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CAE Expands UK Bizav Training Site
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: CAE has opened a new four-simulator expansion of its flight-training center at Burgess Hill in the UK.
Word Count: 419
CAE has opened a new four-simulator expansion of its flight-training center at Burgess Hill in the UK. The facility will provide training for Dassault’s new Falcon 7X, as well as for the 900EX and 2000EX EASy models.The extension already houses a new combined 7X/900EX/2000EX full flight simulator that is expected to begin operations in May. Meanwhile, CAE expects to use its other 7X simulator at Morristown, N.J., for its first training sessions next month. The six-bay North East Training Center in Morristown, which opened in January, also houses simulators for the Gulfstream IV and the Sikorsky S-76.The additional space at Burgess Hill will also accommodate a new Airbus A320 simulator. Later this year, CAE will decide whether to fill the other two new bays with more A320 units or simulators for business aircraft. These might include units for corporate types other than the Falcon line, according to the Canadian flight training group.The Burgess Hill site–located just south of London Gatwick Airport–is CAE’s European center for business aircraft training. The building also houses full flight simulators for the Airbus A320 and A340-600, as well as for the Boeing 747-400. Its A320 capability includes the ACJ series.At a January 26 opening ceremony for the four-bay extension, Jeff Roberts, CAE group president for innovation and civil training and services, announced that the company has begun construction of four more bays that would bring the UK center to 12 simulators. These will also accommodate either airliner or business jet simulators depending on the company’s assessment of market demand as the work nears completion. The Burgess Hill facility, which opened in 2004, is expected to train more than 6,000 pilots this year.The Falcon full flight simulators are backed up by complete suites of CAE’s Simfinity training software and systems. The UK center offers initial, recurrent, upgrade and supplemental training for the latest Falcons (including the use of head-up guidance and enhanced vision systems). It also provides instruction covering maintenance for the types and has begun the first such courses for 7X mechanics at the Morristown center. Maintenance training–for which CAE is the sole entitlement provider–was due to start at the UK center before the end of last month.Roberts said that the Canadian company and Dassault had managed to keep the certification process for the trijet’s full flight simulators on schedule since the beginning of the program. The simulators incorporate the 7X’s fly-by-wire controls and its EASy avionics suite.