Flight Traning & Simulation

EGLIN AFB, Fla., 12 Feb. 2012. The BF-7, an F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) jet, arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., following a 90-minute ferry flight piloted by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. The addition of the BF-7 makes Eglin AFB the home of the largest F-35 fleet in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

HOUSTON, 4 Feb. 2012. NASA officials announced receipt of more than 6,300 applications from individuals desirous of becoming a NASA astronaut. The second highest number of applications ever received by the agency was logged between 15 Nov. 2011 and 27 Jan. 2012. NASA officials will select between nine and 15 people, following a thorough selection process that includes interviews and medical examinations, to become part of the 21st astronaut class.

MCLEAN, Va., 9 Jan. 2012. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC; NYSE: SAI) won a task order from the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Simulation, Training & Instrumentation (STRI) Acquisition Center under the Simulator & Trainer Omnibus Contract (STOC) II vehicle. The task order—with a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options, and a contract value of more than $55 million, if all options are exercised and funded—calls for SAIC engineers to advance the capabilities of One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF) for a broad audience. 

HOUSTON, 19 Dec. 2011. Executives from NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, and Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, are expected to sign an agreement today that marks the beginning of the Shuttle Motion Simulator’s move to College Station. The NASA-Texas A&M partnership enables the college to house and showcase the primary space shuttle launch and landing trainer, considered unique space shuttle training artifacts.

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., 7 Dec. 2011. Environmental Technology Corp. (ETC) officials have begun static testing of the company’s ATFS 400 Model 31 high-performance human centrifuge, designed and manufactured by ETC's Aircrew Training Systems (ATS) business unit. The unit is will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force next year, where it will be used to conduct high-G training for operational and aeromedical aircrew, research, and equipment qualification. The ATFS-400 Model 31 integrates high-fidelity virtual tactical simulation, provides a flyable human training and research centrifuge, can generate up to 20 Gs with a 15 G-per-second onset, and comes with three separate cockpit modules and wide field of view visuals.

SEATTLE, 5 Dec. 2011. Officials from Boeing (NYSE:BA) and 43 Air School (Pty) Ltd., Africa's largest flight training organization, have partnered to provide a comprehensive pilot training program with the goal of maintaining and enhancing aviation safety in Africa and around the world. Participants in the program will receive training at the "ab initio," or basic, level from the experienced flight school and at the commercial jet level from Boeing.

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., 23 Nov. 2011. Environmental Tectonics Corp. (ETC) has shipped to Wright0Patterson Air Force Base the cockpit capsule with rotating gimbals and linear sleds--representing the last and most important subassembly of its GL-6000 advanced training and research device. ETC’s Aircrew Training Systems (ATS) business unit previously won a contract from U.S. Navy officials to provide the GL-6000 in support of clinical and operational research and mishap investigation.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, 31 Oct. 2011. BAE Systems executives are taking the company’s Hawk Advanced Jet Training System (AJTS) on a National Road Show via the Hawk AJTS Demonstration Trailer. The Hawk Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft flew Oct. 29 and 30 at the U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command headquarters as part of the Randolph Air Force Base Open House and Air Show. The Hawk AJTS integrates live and synthetic air- and ground-based elements to train pilots for 5th generation fighters, including the F-35 Lightning II and the F-22 Raptor aircraft.

RADNOR, Pa., 24 Oct. 2011. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) managers needed a new pilot training and simulation system to replace legacy equipment that is no longer compliant with the KLM information technology (IT) standards. They found their solution--advanced pilot transition, vacation, and simulator planning system--at Quintiq in Radnor, Pa.

ORLANDO, Fla., 24 Aug. 2011. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) won from FlightSafety Services Corp. a $5.8 million, one-year contract to manage C-5 aircrew training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as well as to provide logistical support to six additional training locations, as part of the C-5 Aircrew Training System (ATS) program. The contract, if four one-year options are exercised, totals $30 million. Lockheed Martin personnel, in addition to managing the C-5 Training Systems Support Center and formal training unit at Lackland Air Force Base, will provide logistical training support at: Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; Martinsburg Air National Guard Base, W.Va.; Memphis Air National Guard Base, Tenn.; Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.; and Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.

ARLINGTON, Texas, 24 Aug. 2011. L-3 Link Simulation & Training (L-3 Link) won a contract to build and deliver to the Pakistan Air Force two of its F-16C Block 52 Aircrew Training Devices (ATDs). The company’s simulators are scheduled to be installed and networked at the PAF’s Shahbaz Air Base in 2013. Pakistan Air Force personnel will use the F-16C Block 52 ATDs to support new pilot, pilot conversion, and advanced skills training.

MONTREAL, 30 July 2011. CAE (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) sold four 7000 Series Level D full-flight simulators (FFS) and other training devices to different airlines. An Airbus A320 FFS will go to Aeroflot,; an A320 and a Boeing B737 will to the Zhuhai Flight Training Centre (ZFTC), a joint venture of China Southern Airlines and CAE; and a Bell 412 helicopter FFS will be delivered to an undisclosed operator.

By Joy Lin, aerospace and defense industry marketing manager, MathWorks
Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) are becoming more and more complex in order to fulfill a number of potentially conflicting performance and robustness requirements. However, the use traditional development methods that continue to rely on legacy designs and domain specific tools that perform subsystem-level optimization make it difficult, if not impossible to perform system-level design optimization of these complex systems.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla, 16 July 2011. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] pilots delivered the first production model F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to the 33rd Fighter Wing. The jet fighter, dubbed AF-9, will be used for F-35 pilot and maintenance training who begin coursework at the base's new F-35 Integrated Training Center later this year.

MONTREAL, 9 July 2011.  CAE (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) won a series of contracts from the U.S. military for their simulation and training systems. They include a contract to develop two MH-60R helicopter simulators for the U.S. Navy, designing and manufacturing training devices under a contract with Boeing for the U.S. Air Force's C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), and a contract from the U.S. Army to develop a suite of Abrams tank maintenance trainers.

RIO NEGRO, Colombia, 9 July 2011. Officials Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS) announced that the company is building a new UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter Flight Simulator Training Center at a Colombian air force base in Melgar. It is expected to be completed later this year.

ORLANDO, Fla., 14 June 2011. Simulations at the National Flight Academy's (NFA) will be driven by Prepar3D visual simulation software from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Global Training and Logistics. The NFA addresses the issues related to declining science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and standards in the U.S. by providing immersive high-tech experiences that merge classroom math and science basics with hands-on aviation training.

SEATTLE, 10 June 2011. Officials at ANA (All Nippon Airways) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced that pilot training for the ANA crews that will fy the airline's first 787 Dreamliner were completed in Seattle. Ten ANA pilots trained in the 787 test aircraft called ZA001. The crew that participated in this training are check airmen and senior training pilots from ANA that are going through simulator and aircraft line training in Japan.

OKLAHOMA CITY, 4 June 2011. The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing [NYSE: BA] contracts for two additional C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kits as well as two Aircrew Training System devices.