Virtual maintenance will spur CAE sim growth

Canadian flight simulator specialist CAE is planning to take its virtual technology from the cockpit into the hangar, as its customers are demanding more complex maintenance training.
“We’re really trying to spend a good bit of time evolving the maintenance solutions from where it has been to where we think it needs to go.” says Jeff Roberts, group president of CAE Training and Services & Innovation. “It needs to become more practical or operational.”
Rudimentary programs such as changing tires, fixing brakes, adding oil and towing the airplane, need to be evolved to the next step, Roberts believes. “We need to train people in troubleshooting and diagnostic skills, because I think that is more an expectation of the customers, as they’ve told us. The maintenance tech has to go out today and get the fault to present itself. It becomes very much like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” he says.
New programs will use new ideas as instructors leverage traditional systems such as Integrated Procedures Trainers (IPT) and Virtual Maintenance Trainers (VMT). “We basically bring a virtual aircraft into the classroom to cover system operations and troubleshooting,” says Roberts. “These devices are also utilized to prepare clients for engine run and taxi sessions in the full flight simulator (FFS).”
In India, CAE’s Bangalore training center is in development, as is the country’s national flight academy, the Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Training Institute, which is owned by CAE and the Indian Government. CAE is also the managing partner of the Indian government’s flight training academy, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi.
06/10/08 Flight International