Business aviation training has traditionally followed the path of OEM preference: when a company purchases a new aircraft from the manufacturer, the package often includes initial training for the first couple of pilots and maintenance technicians. If the training provider does an acceptable job, they may sign the client to a long-term training agreement, effectively shutting the competition out of recurrent training on that aircraft for multiple years.

FlightSafety International (Booth G073), which created the independent business aviation training market in 1951 and has remained the market leader, has been particularly adept at aligning with aircraft manufacturers, building strong relationships with Gulfstream and Sikorsky, among others. FlightSafety is the exclusive authorized training provider (ATP) for the new Gulfstream G500 and G600 aircraft, for example. Most recently, FlightSafety secured ATP status from Dassault Aviation for the new Falcon 8X ultra-long-range aircraft. It is also the ATP for Embraer’s Lineage and Legacy executive jets, the Pilatus PC-24 jet, and for the new HondaJet (with the first simulator installed earlier this year in Greensboro, North Carolina).

CAE (Booth U073) has been naturally bonded with Montréal, Québec-based neighbor Bombardier Aerospace in the bizjet sector, and has had some aircraft-specific ATP success with Dassault for the Falcon 7X and the new Falcon 5X and Embraer with the Phenom.

But now a third simulator manufacturer is wedging into the market, and it’s owned by an OEM. TRU Simulation + Training (Booth V029) is a year-old unit of Textron, and TRU is becoming the apparent default for flight simulation training devices for Textron-owned Beechcraft, Cessna, Hawker, and Bell Helicopter aircraft.

TRU President and CEO Jim Takats acknowledges that much of the alignment of business aircraft training relationships is “due to previous OEM relationships.” Nonetheless, he believes there are opportunities for TRU beyond the Textron family. “We are having discussions with other OEMs on projects where the business case makes sense. We think there’s significant opportunity for a third competitor to be successful in the market.”

TRU has announced that it will enter the European training center market early next year in Valencia, Spain in a facility originally built as a Bell service center. The first simulator will represent the Bell 429. A second yet-to-be-determined helicopter model is planned. Takats says TRU is also evaluating “business cases for business jets,” to determine which type of Cessna jet simulator to locate in the Spanish coastal city.

“We’re looking at locations in northern Europe and South America as well,” he added.

In the U.S. market, TRU last summer acquired its customer, ProFlight. TRU will establish an East Coast training center in the Tampa, Florida area to join the current West Coast facility in Carlsbad, California. The initial construction of three simulator bays is adjacent to “TRU South,” the internal nickname for what was originally Opinicus Corporation, the company Takats founded and which he sold to Textron a year ago. The training center will feature a Cessna Citation CJ3 simulator and two additional sims for Textron aircraft by the beginning of 2016. Architectural plans have been drawn to expand to as many as nine simulators in Tampa. The West Coast facility will get a second simulator in early 2016. TRU is also producing the level D simulator for the new Bell Relentless 525.

Independent training organization, Ifaero (booth G074), located at Cannes Business Airport, France is offering Cessna Citation type-rating training using a flight training device delivered by Mechtronix, one of the companies that Textron acquired to form TRU.

FlightSafety Expands Fleet

Training for the Dassault Falcon 2000LXS with EASy II avionics is expected to begin in September at FlightSafety’s Paris learning center at Le Bourget airport. FlightSafety will install one of the new Falcon 8X Level D sims in Paris; while the other will be located in Teterboro, New Jersey.

The first phase of an ambitious new FlightSafety-Abu Dhabi Aviation training facility is scheduled to open in September as well. The 8,000-sq-m (86,000-sq-ft) center will accommodate eight full flight simulators initially and 17 eventually. Training services are anticipated for a variety of business aircraft, helicopters, commercial, and military aircraft.

Training for Embraer 500 Legacy pilots commenced last fall at FlightSafety’s St. Louis, Missouri, US facility, qualified to American, European, and Brazilian regulatory standards.

FlightSafety continues to be aggressive in deploying civil helicopter simulators. They plan a 40 percent expansion of Level D devices, including models for the Bell 407GX, Bell 412 EP-Fast Fin, Airbus Helicopter AS350 B3, EC130T2, EC145, Sikorsky S-76C+/C++, S-76D, and S-92. The new FS1000 simulators will feature night vision goggle (NVG)-capable CrewView displays with fields of view up to 300 degrees horizontally. FlightSafety spokesperson Steve Phillips says the glass mirror design “enhances training for critical tasks such as prop feathering and landing gear deployment, brownout training, search-and-rescue scans, and advanced mission rehearsal.”

CAE: Healthy Market

CAE business aircraft simulator deployments have slowed the past couple of years, but an expansion announcement last fall promised more Bombardier, Gulfstream, Bell, and Sikorsky platforms “within the next 18 months,” or by early 2016. Pilots of Bombardier Global 5000 and 6000 aircraft started training earlier this year on the Global Vision cockpit at CAE’s joint-venture training center with Emirates in Dubai.

Bombardier’s aircraft training center in Montréal (across the parking lot from CAE’s HQ and manufacturing facility) will be outfitted with a new CAE-built Challenger 350 sim next month. In preparation for entry-into-service, Bombardier earlier reconfigured a level D device at its training center in Dallas, Texas, which is co-located with CAE’s flagship bizjet training facility (originally known as SimuFlite).

Camille Mariamo, who leads CAE’s business aircraft, civil helicopter and maintenance training unit worldwide, said, “In general, the market is healthy. Some areas are better than others. The trend is starting to show on the right side. Business aviation training continues to pick up.” Simulator utilization rates (including commercial airline sims) slumped in mid-2014, dropping from 72 percent in the April-June quarter to only 62 percent from July-September, but recovered to 68 percent in October-November-December.

One area of concern has been the market for helicopter pilot training, particularly around the North Sea where falling oil prices aggravated an already diminishing production. CAE, FlightSafety and Thales have training centers in Scotland and Norway. “Some customers are being very cautious for the time being, but we haven’t seen any impact on training,” Mariamo stated.