Page 15 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2015 Online Magazine

FEATURE PILOT TRAINING

Boeing 737 Classic, MD80 (erstwhile Daniel Malka, Thales VP, Avionics Services
McDonnell Douglas) and legacy A320s. Worldwide, “As skies become more
Out of the installed base of 1472 Full congested, HUDs are becoming a mainstay
Flight Simulators (FFS) world over, almost for pilots. China is leading the world in
40% (553 nos) of the world are based in the adopting this technology and Thales has
USA, with the state of Texas alone having invested considerable efforts in developing
142 simulators, says Halldale Group’s 2015 the most highly performing HUD on the
World Civil Full Flight Simulator Census. market.” China Southern Airlines became
Second ranked China has 127 installed FFSs. the first customer to choose a Dual HUD
China is expected to become the world’s configuration this September, when it
largest civil aviation market by 2030 Chinese placed an order for the equipment on its
carriers like China Southern, China Eastern 30 new Airbus A320 airplanes. This is
and Air China are rapidly approaching the the largest such contract for HUDs and
size of US airlines. The United Arab Emirates the first ever for a dual configuration
(UAE), Japan, Singapore, South Korea system, since it was developed by Thales
and India have 44, 34, 24, 21 and 15 FFSs and certified by Airbus early this year.
respectively. On an average 50 FFSs have High-fidelity Level D FFSs are a must for
been added over the last four years, says the simulator training with HUDs. China’s
report. The next few years will see a rapid decision to move ahead with HUDs for its
increase in Level D FFSs as new generation commercial airliners is also indicative of
airliners begin to enter service in larger the massive strides it has made in global
numbers. safety standards, where today it is one
of the world leaders, compared to even
Head Up Displays two decades ago when it lagged behind
Another change will be the requirement global safety standards. October saw
of FFSs configured with Head Up Displays the announcement that the Civil Aviation
(HUD) for the massive Chinese market. Administration of China (CAAC) would
This is the result of the mandatory commence training of test pilots and flight
requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority test engineers at Mojave, California. This
of China (CAAC), which requires all is part of a flight test training agreement
Chinese registered commercial aircraft to signed with the International Flight Test
be configured with at least a single HUD. Institute (IFTI) that will see students
Thales has become the early leader in receiving instruction on all topics related
China for this segment and according to to civil aircraft certification. IFTI has 35

The Thales and Airbus dual
head-up-display (HUD)
configuration for A320
aircraft has been certified
by the European Aviation
Safety Agency. Dual HUDs are
likely to be default in future
aircraft cockpits. A single HUD
configuration is mandatory for all
commercial jetliners registered
in China
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