Story ID: 124AW189SimAINMay14EditedByAY_NM
First Level D AW189 Sim Certified
By: Mark Huber
Caption: The new simulator will be based at AgustaWestland’s new simulation building at the A. Marchetti Training Academy in Sesto Calende, Italy.
Word Count: 262
The CAE/AgustaWestland Rotorsim joint venture has received EASA and Italian ENAC approval for its CAE Series 3000 AW189 full-motion simulator to level-D qualifications. The new simulator will be based at AgustaWestland’s new simulation building at the A. Marchetti Training Academy in Sesto Calende, Italy. 
  
More than 130 AW189s are on order or option and the company received EASA certification for the helicopter on February 7. Large fleet customers include Bristow Group, which has placed a firm order for 11 AW189s for use on a UK search-and-rescue contract and for offshore operations. Gulf Helicopters and Era each have 15 on order. 
  
The 3000 Series features realistic simulations for helicopter-specific training for missions such as offshore energy, search-and-rescue (SAR) and law enforcement.
  
CAE technologies incorporated into the simulator include a six degrees-of-freedom electric motion system and high-performance vibration platform to replicate critical vibration cues; a high-fidelity image generator; and a direct-projection 210-degree by 80-degree field-of-view dome display.
  
More AW189 simulators will be installed at regional training centers as demand warrants. Gulf Helicopters has placed an order with AgustaWestland for an AW189 level-C full-flight simulator in offshore oil-and-gas configuration to support the company’s pilot development training needs for its fleet of AW189s at Gulf’s AgustaWestland authorized training center. Rotorsim will install a second level-D AW189 simulator, this one configured for SAR, in the middle of next year at a training center in Aberdeen, Scotland, in support of Bristow Helicopters and other North Sea operators. The first AW189 flight training device entered service in September.