The HATSOFF facility in Bangalore warming up for Dauphin certification. Photos: Yugesh Kumar
By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service
Bangalore: Chopper pilots from India and abroad, flying the Dauphins will find a new abode to hone their flying skills -- swiftly, surely and safely – at the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF) in Bangalore. The facility, a JV project between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE-Canada, will throw open a Dauphin 365 N3 simulator to pilots, after it is evaluated and qualified by the Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) of UK on behalf of European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India.
Once this qualification is in (likely any time now) , HATSOFF will join the exclusive league of very few simulator training institutions in the world (US, Europe, Singapore) who can boast of six synthetic training devices for helicopters. At the end of this qualification phase, expected to be by the third week of December 2011, HATSOFF will have the Bell 412 EP, HAL civil/conventional Dhruv and the Eurocopter's Dauphin 365 N3 units – all certified as Level D, FFS/FFMS (Full Motion/Full Mission Simulators), which is the highest qualification for flight simulators.
HATSOFF is also approved to impart training for under slung operations and rescue hoist operations. Both of these operations is expected to be exploited by the Indian industry, as is being commonly done in the West. “The visuals of the simulators already have the roof top helipads. We will be ready to train pilots for roof top operations which are bound be become popular in India in the near future. Approval for imparting such training is expected to be granted by the DGCA very soon,” says Wg Cdr (Retd) C.D. Upadhyay, CEO, HATSOFF.
DHRUV MILSIM: The military variant of Dhruv simulator with ‘glass cockpit’ and full weapons integrated is getting ready in Montreal (Canada). By the end of 2012, it will arrive at the HATSOFF facility in Bangalore and subsequent qualification.
Till then, the Dhruv pilots can train in the existing civil simulator at the facility, but will only be able to do electronic warfare (EW) training when the military version arrives. “The Dhruv pilots flying this variant will be able to train on night vision goggle flying, weapons firing, EW and host of other military operations as required by the Indian Army Aviation, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard,” says Capt N S Krishna, Chief of Training, at the facility.
HATSOFF also imparts role and mission training modes on synthetic flight devices. It is cleared to train helicopter pilots for off shore operations on oil rigs, helipad operations on helipads from sea level to 20,000ft, catering for the Indian conditions requiring operations in plains, mountainous areas of wooded Eastern sector and the cold desert of the Northern sector.
Says Capt Jatindar, Dauphin pilot, engaged in the integration of the Dauphin 365 N3 cockpit at HATSOFF. “I have seen many simulators all over the world and HATSOFF is outstanding. We are now approaching the final portion of the integration process and this will be one of the best Dauphin simulators in the world. The visuals are excellent and feels like a real helicopter,” says Capt Jatindar with more than 14000 hours on helicopters since 1967.
(Copyright@The New Indian Express)
