- The company reinforces its position as an international supplier of civil simulators
- The system will train pilots operating in Aberdeen, one of the largest operations centres of this type of aircraft in the world
Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe, is working on the development of a new simulator supporting the EC225 passenger transport helicopter. The simulator will be implemented at Eurocopter UK’s service and training centre in Aberdeen (Scotland).
The system, in its final development stage, will back up the training of pilots who cover the North Sea routes and transport people and goods to over 200 offshore oil drilling platforms located in the North Sea. Pilots can also be trained in search & rescue missions since the EC225 helicopter is often employed in this type of missions.
Thanks to the system developed by Indra, pilots will be able to train in critical weather conditions and at night. Difficult manoeuvres, for instance landing on ships or platforms, or emergency protocols, such as engine failure, could not be rehearsed otherwise.
Nowadays Aberdeen is one of the busiest off-shore oil and gas helicopter maintenance hubs in the world. Therefore, the simulator will be extensively used.
Close to reality
The system will feel very real since the avionics and navigation tools will be the same as those of the helicopter. Its visual system will cover a wide area and replicate the zone’s orography. The representation covers 1 million km2 from Aberdeen, in Scotland, to Stavanger, Norway.
The capacity to reproduce the vibrations of the aircraft during flight will make this simulator unique. This feature is very important for the pilot to control the vehicle and predict behaviour.
This new feature could be achieved thanks to the platform upon which the cockpit of the simulator will be set up. The platform will provide freedom of movement on three shafts and will complement the feeling provided by the 6 degrees of freedom motion feature.
Stronger presence in helicopter simulation
This project reaffirms Indra’s position as an important supplier of helicopter simulators in the international market and strengthens its relationship with Eurocopter, one of the main manufacturers of this type of aircraft worldwide.
The contract was closed upon delivery of the first three civil simulators of EC 135, a versatile helicopter destined for police, sanitary and transport use. These systems are currently into service at Eurocopter’s training centres in Donauworth (Germany), Dallas (USA) and at the centre of The Polish Ministry of Health (LPR) in Warsaw.
Last June, the company announced an extension of Hainan Airlines training centre in China with two flight simulators of the Airbus 320 passenger aircraft and last year, Indra concluded the development of the simulator of the ATR 72 short-haul regional airliner. It was the first simulator developed in Spain to obtain the highest certification of the European Civil Aviation Authorities thanks to its high degree of realism.
Worldwide leadership
Indra is one of the main simulator manufacturers worldwide with over 25 years of experience. It develops simulation systems for aircrafts, trains, metro systems, buses and other vehicles such as heavy machinery, among many others.
Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the first European company in its sector according to investment in R&D and is the second Spanish company in absolute value investments in R&D. In 2009 revenues reached € 2,513 M of which a 40% came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.