Access to full-crew synthetic training helps pilots and rear crew to practise one of the most important aspects of any mission – teamwork. There are many potential applications, including rescue operations, hoist operations for offshore wind farms, or marine pilot transfers.
Until now, pilots and rear crew have typically conducted synthetic training separately. However, our latest training enhancement brings the whole crew together in a way that has not been possible before.
By using cutting-edge technology to link MITHOS with our FFS for the AW139, AW169 and AW189 in Sesto Calende, crews can hone their skills collaboratively. Pilot and hoist operator, working in their respective device, can conduct mission training as a single team, communicating and co-ordinating actions as if they were operating the same helicopter.
As part of our wider improvements to MITHOS, we have also added a mechanical hoist, which provides tactile feedback to the operator, replicating the forces felt on the actual hoist during winching.
Senior Rear Crew Instructor, Julien Eymard, who trains students on MITHOS, says the interconnection between devices is a crucial step forward. "This is a real game-changer because it makes the full-crew training concept a reality. It means that operators can conduct ab initio, recurrent and advanced training in a collaborative and highly realistic environment. We believe it will deliver significant benefits to operators in terms of safety, mission effectiveness, and training costs."
Over the past year, we have overcome numerous technical hurdles, including ensuring that data can be transferred smoothly between devices and making sure that different technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and traditional visual systems, can coexist within the same training environment and successfully "talk to each other".
Having fully tested the concept, we’ll be rolling out our full-crew training capability using MITHOS and FFS.
Key benefits of our full-crew training
- Enhanced crew co-ordination with pilots and operators both experiencing the same scenario and training as one cohesive team.
- Improved mission effectiveness as crew members can communicate directly with each other across devices and co-ordinate their response to unforeseen events.
- Greater realism because the same weather conditions are replicated by the simulator, plus the hoist operators can feel the real forces via a mechanical cable.
- Reduction in training costs and time by reducing live flying hours.
More about MITHOS
MITHOS is our Modular Interactive Trainer for Helicopter Operators. It is specifically designed to recreate hoist operations and blends virtual reality with a 1:1 scale cabin mock-up equipped with a rescue hoist.
Through MITHOS we can offer operators a complete training programme that spans ab initio training for hoist operators and rescuers through to advanced scenario-based training.
Students are fully immersed in a virtual world. VR goggles produce a 360° panorama that can include mountains, trees, buildings and the ocean depending on mission profile. Smart-touch gloves and other sensors produce physical feedback that exactly mirrors a real-world setting.
Read the full story behind MITHOS
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