India Gets Its First Level "D" Helicopter Simulator

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have certified CAE's full-mission helicopter simulator the highest certification, the Level D, less than a year after the revolutionary the Bell 412 simulator arrived in India. This makes it the only one of kind Level "D" helicopter simulator in the country. It can be used for both civilian and military version training of the ALH Dhruv helicopter manufactured by HAL. The newly certified simulator called mothership was built by Canada-based CAE at HATSOFF (Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying) in Bangalore, an equally owned joint venture by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.) and CAE. The mothership features a common motion system, vibration platform, and visual display system, along with the four separate cockpit modules that can be used in the full-mission simulator. The simulator perfectly mimics realistic environmental conditions that an aircraft might encounter, it also imitates the aerodynamic (including ground effect) and ground dynamic characteristics of the aircraft being simulated. Practicing on a level D simulator permits the development and hones the skills necessary to achieve the required training, certification maneuvers and procedures to a prescribed standard of airman competency, in a specific aircraft. Level D flight simulators may be used for all flight task training and practical testing except for static aircraft training. In all approved configurations, correct simulation of selected environmentally-affected aerodynamic and ground dynamic characteristics of the aircraft being simulated considering the full range of its flight envelope.