Hong Kong’s government Flying Service has invested more than HK$2 billion (US$256 million) to set up the first Airbus H175 Cheetah helicopter simulator in Asia, which is expected to cut training for rescue pilots by a year and slash overseas training costs, it was revealed on Friday.

The simulator system, programmed to create a true to life animation of the city’s environment, has been in operation six months and has been used to train 44 pilots in all types of search and rescue, surveillance, and emergencies in extreme weather.

Veteran pilots have been invited to curate the programme to adapt the scenarios to Hong Kong conditions.

The new simulator is expected to reduce the seven to eight years pilot training at present to six years because assessments and training can all be delivered at the same centre.

“We are confident we have taken a proactive step in changing the ways of training,” Captain West Wu Wai-hung, the service’s controller, said on Friday.

The stimulator’s construction was completed last September and later passed the Civil Aviation Department’s evaluation.

The simulator system costs HK$1.16 billion and the training centre on Lantau Island costs HK$1.12 billion.

Government pilots previously had to travel to France for training and to undergo assessments in a helicopter simulator.

Wong said the training only met the service’s “usual standard” as instructors were not operating in line with Hong Kong’s higher demand.

He added the team was determined to change training procedures from passive to active.

Wu explained active training involved several experienced pilots being called to be simulator instructors, so that they could contribute their flying experience in most emergencies, supervise trainees and help them to think about and deal with all kinds of situations.

There are two pilot seats and a real aircraft panel inside the simulator cockpit.

The instructor can control and plan complicated missions such as malfunction handling and ditching.

Howie Chan, a senior pilot and one of the instructors, said he spent a lot of time designing the programme to ensure the exercises, such as deck winching at night, were realistic.

Training of that type was previously carried out in real aircraft and caused wear and tear over a period of time, Eddie Liu, a senior pilot (helicopter standard) said.

Liu said more than 2,000 hours of flying had been carried out in the simulator by this month.

Wu said that the fleet had seven aircraft some of which had been used for training but could now be freed for standby operations.

He added he expected to see an increase in aircraft availability, which would improve the service.

Wong said the H175 Cheetah simulator was built for endurance and was expected to be in service for at least 20 years, so it was here to stay.

He added it was “too early to foresee” any replacement of the present helicopter fleet by other models.

Aviation firm Indra, which provided the avionics software, developed the simulation system for pilots to train in a variety of day and night time missions, often in bad weather.

The system also replicates the characteristics of the H175 to prepare pilots to perform well in real-life operations.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3224370/hong-kong-hk2 billion-hi-tech-helicopter-simulator-expected-cut-training-government-pilots-2-years?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage

Category: Hong Kong