Page 28 - AAA SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2012 Online Magazine

FEATURE TRAINING

worldwide that offer this instruction;
the other is in Miami. the big problem
facing airlines looking for training on
advanced types such as the 787 is the
availability of real aircraft to practice
on: as a result the centre has invested
heavily in virtual reality software. “and
for aircraft like the 787 we no longer use
paper manuals – it’s mostly program-
based using plug-in diagnostics, so we
have to get the trainees used to working
that way too,” he adds.
tiong ang, duty technical instructor for
the 787 maintenance program, contends
that trainees prefer the software-based
training approach. “they find it easier,
and they learn interactively and directly
from the desktop,” he says. this means
they can complete a whole course without
having the need to work on an [expensive]
sample part or airframe. “the [training]
software was developed as the [787]
ABOVE: It’s not just huge
numbers of pilots that will airframes were being designed, so they
be needed over the next work seamlessly together,” he says. “in
20 years – well-trained fact the people working on these new
technicians will also be in aircraft never use manuals – it is all done
great demand by using a notebook [computer], which
in real life is often plugged in to make a
diagnosis, as well as offer help with the
electronic manual.”
each technician training workstation
has two flat screen panels which the
trainee can navigate in 3d, allowing
them to look at rendered sections of the
aircraft in real time. Most classes are full
to capacity, with 16 students taking an
average 30-day course to bring them up
to currency on a new aircraft type. it’s like
a full action video game, but the player
is servicing a turbofan or a cargo door
instead of shooting baddies.

FlightSim
Over in the simulator room, a huge
hangar-like structure with seven fully
equipped active flight simulators all
working simultaneously, the action
is even more intense. each simulator
costs around us$10—15 million, and
most are in use 20 hours a day to extract
maximum return. the btFss retains a
staff of 16 technicians just to maintain
Demand for both pilots and technicians is set to soar, according to Boeing’s latest the simulators, working 20 hours every
2012 survey predictions day. “they never rest,” grins curtin. the
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