Leonardo 26 January 2017
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: the inside of an AW169 Full Flight Simulator
The capability to offer quality training that meets the customer's needs is a decisive element of competitive advantage in the helicopter industry.
For more than sixty years, since the times of Agusta, Leonardo Helicopters has been developing courses for helicopter operators from around the world.
| TRAINING ACADEMY “A. MARCHETTI” |
A leading training school for pilots and technicians with a long tradition, the "A. Marchetti" Training Academy in Sesto Calende (Italy) is the place where to begin talking about the attention and care that Leonardo Helicopters devotes daily to its customers and to all potential operators.
The Training Academy, which recently celebrated its first ten years of operation, features a team of pilot instructors, ground instructors and rear crew instructors for a wide range of courses. All our staff is qualified according to the highest EU and international standards.
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: simulator bay
The Academy is the main aviation training organisation in Italy and among the most famous in Europe; it is approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency and is also the only Part 142 Training Centre recognised by the Federal Aviation Administration outside of the United States, a centre where Zero Flight Time training can be administered, i.e. training on simulators without use of the actual aircraft. The Academy holds several international certifications including Transport Canada, CASA Australia, CAAC China, CAA Russia, ANAC Brazil, DGCA India, as well as military certifications such as the "AER(EP).P-2147", which licences the training of military corps from Italy and other NATO member countries.
| CUTTING EDGE PERSONALISED TRAINING |
The main objective of the Training Academy is to offer pilots, maintenance operators and crew members something that goes far beyond the type conversion, i.e. the most appropriate training for carrying out the mission effectively and with highest level of safety.
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: simulator bay for AW139, AW169 and AW189
In-flight and on the ground lessons are the main activities of the Training Academy's modern simulators area, where the first Level D Full Flight Simulator (FFS), the highest level according to international standards, was introduced in 2006. One hour of flight time on the FFS Level D is equivalent to one hour of actual flight. There are currently nine flight simulators: two AW139s, one AW189, one AW169, one AW109 Power, one Flight Training Device (FTD) and three simulators of military models, each of them is used for up to 20 hours a day, 360 days a year. With the FFS, the Academy can offer training based on specific mission profiles, using exclusive tactical scenarios such as Search And Rescue and Emergency Medical Service, over-sea flight, surveillance and police missions.
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: maintenance simulators
The use of procedures based on GPS/SBAS (PBN) technology, i.e. low altitude instrument flight, is a further addition to the already wide range of mission profiles currently available. In addition to NVG (Night Vision Goggles) courses and aircrew mission courses (winch operators, mission console operators, fast rope, rescue man, helicopter emergency medical service -HEMS - operators), courses on optical and tactical sensors are also available.
| CLASSROOM LESSONS: INNOVATIVE SYSTEMS AND DIGITISATION OF THE INFORMATION PROCESS |
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: Virtual Maintenance Trainer
Theoretical and technical training is carried out within 23 classrooms and on six maintenance simulators. The theoretical part makes use of a range of innovative systems, many of which developed by Leonardo's Helicopters Division:
- Virtual Interactive Procedural Training (VIPT): a virtual cockpit for the GrandNew, AW139, AW169 and AW189 models, integrating advanced graphics display techniques and touch screen technology.
- Virtual Maintenance Trainers (VMT): training in a three-dimensional environment designed to build helicopter maintenance skills.
- Maintenance Training Simulators (MTS): true helicopter replicas that allow unprecedented maintenance training and through which the Training Academy has revolutionised training standards for maintenance technicians.
Training Academy “A. Marchetti”: a lesson for maintainers
The digitisation of the information process represented a crucial step for the Training Academy. Distance learning, modern 2.0 Apps and tablets are now an integral part of the Sesto Calende Academy's teaching materials, improving learning processes in compliance with the highest level of quality service offered to customers.
| TRAINING ACADEMY: GLOBAL NETWORK, PERSONALISED SERVICE |
Besides the already mentioned Italian headquarters, the Helicopters Division boasts three more international branches, in the United Kingdom (Yeovil), USA (Philadelphia) and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).
> TRAINING ACADEMY UK
The Training Academy of Yeovil, Somerset, offers a range of courses on military products (AW101, AW159, AW139 Lynx and Sea King) and manages several training centres with modern turnkey solutions on behalf of the British Armed Forces. An AW189 SAR simulator is in use , in Aberdeen (UK), and is managed entirely by the training centre.
> TRAINING ACADEMY USA
The US Academy of Philadelphia, traditionally known for its training on the AW109, AW119 and AW139 models, has recently expanded the range of its courses to meet the growing need for training on the AW169 and AW189. Their centrepiece is the AW139 Level D simulator, located at the Morristown (New Jersey) satellite centre and operational since 2008.
> TRAINING ACADEMY MALESIA
Regarded as the major training centre for the Asian market, the satellite Academy of Subang, Kuala Lumpur offers several training services for the AW109 and AW139 models, with the intention to develop training on the AW169 and AW189 helicopters in the near future.