Image: Airbus Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters and Helisim broke ground on a new helicopter pilot and maintenance crew training center in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Tuesday. According to Airbus, the Helisim Simulation Center will house the first H145 and H175 Level D full-motion flight simulators in North America. In addition, it will incorporate Airbus Helicopters’ existing training facilities including its H125/AS350 flight simulator and H135/H145 flight training device. Airbus also says that the facility will be expanded to include an H160 simulator once the model is certified and production is underway.
“The North American training center will meet our customers’ needs for exceptional training on those aircraft,” said Airbus Helicopters Vice President of Customer Support Anthony Baker. “This training center will advance safety for the thousands of men and women who operate and fly in our helicopters every day.”
The initial investment for the training center is $40 million with the first stage of the new facility scheduled to be completed later this year. The center will be operated by Helisim, a France-based joint venture between Airbus Helicopters, Thales, and DCI, and is expected to provide introductory and recurrent training to thousands of helicopter personnel each year.
