Second chopper training platform in City on the cards

The Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF), a joint venture of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Canadian CAE Inc., is planning to set up a second simulator platform as the number of hours of the simulator helicopter training for pilots has been increasing rapidly.

Hatsoff CEO Captain N S Krishna told Deccan Herald, “The number of hours involved in pilot training is going up every year. Once we touch 4,500 hours of simulator training, we plan to set up a second training platform at our campus. What was just 200 hours of training a year around 2010-11 is now expected to touch 4,500 hours. Naturally, the demand is high and we have to look into a second facility to cope with it.”

Taking Deccan Herald representatives on a tour of the training facility, the CEO said, there is a great demand for the training at the Bengaluru centre from both within India and abroad. “We have had people coming in from Japan, Australia, Ecuador, Nepal and Kazakhstan. People from Thailand and Indonesia are expected to join, but after certain issues are addressed.”

Apart from pilot training, the company is now capable of setting up a brand new facility. “It is not just a training centre alone. We now have the expertise to set up a new training facility entirely. We offer what is called the BOMT - Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer. On the other hand, there has been an informal transfer of technology from the CAE. The core technology that goes into the simulator is from CAE and we are now familiar with it as we handle the technology every day. We have contributed to the software and India’s competency in this niche is well recognised.”

Hatsoff’s operations, including the training course, have been cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The European Space Agency (ESA) has also cleared the simulator, which is a significant accomplishment, because aerospace-grade manufacturing and technology are not easily certified anywhere in the world.

A space agency clearing operations implies that the technology and the software being used by the simulator meets the requirements. Krishna had told this newspaper earlier that over the next five years, the country would have 250 to 300 new helicopters in the civil sector and there would be a need for around 8,000 pilots.

Hatsoff trains people who hold a basic licence in chopper flying as well as qualified pilots who would like to hone their skills year after year. In Bengaluru, the basic licence can be procured from The HAL Rotary Wing Academy after six months of training.

He said the trained pilots then come to Hatsoff to learn higher level flying or conversion training, in which the pilots fly specific helicopters that are not the basic ones (like Schweizer 300C/Schweizer 330SP). Specific modules are arranged for specific flying training – like training for the Eurocopter Dauphin or the Bell 412 or India’s own Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv).