American Eurocopter announced today that HELISIM has been selected as a satellite flight training facility for the American Eurocopter Training Center.

“HELISIM provides state-of-the-art simulators, top-notch training and world-class service, which complements our existing capabilities by providing training programs for our customers who perform missions that require larger helicopters,” said Marc Paganini, President and CEO of American Eurocopter. “We selected HELISIM as our satellite training facility to ensure that our customers can benefit from the same high level of training and service that they receive at our American Eurocopter Training Center in Grand Prairie.”

Co-located with Eurocopter’s facility at Marseille Airport in Marignane, France, HELISIM provides flight simulator training for all of Eurocopter’s medium/large twin-engine helicopters, including the AS365 N2, EC155, AS322 L1/L2, EC225 and NH90.

HELISIM’s EC155 Level D flight simulator received Federal Aviation Administration CFR Part 142 approval in July. Level D is the only standard recognized by the FAA for gaining full credits for initial training under Part 142. American Eurocopter can now train pilots under FAA regulations using HELISIM as a satellite of its own flight training organization. This allows U.S. EC155 operators to benefit from the capabilities offered by this full motion training device and further demonstrates the continued efforts by American Eurocopter to better support its customers, developing innovative, cost-effective and safety-oriented services.

The first U.S. customer to complete American Eurocopter training in the EC155 Full Flight Level D simulator at HELISIM is the University of Michigan’s Survival Flight program. To date, six pilots from Survival Flight have completed training.

“HELISIM is very proud to support University of Michigan in its challenging operations. As a satellite of American Eurocopter, we have worked together to answer Survival Flight’s training needs under FAA regulations,” said Alain Salendre, President and CEO of HELISIM. “The satisfaction expressed by Survival Flight and its pilots is our greatest reward, and we will continue to work with AEC and the FAA to expand our training and support capabilities to meet the future requirements of customers.”

HELISIM’s EC155 simulator offers realistic initial, conversion and recurrent training, allowing operators to safely prepare for ‘worst case scenarios,’ such as adverse weather and emergency situations. The simulator also provides Night Vision Goggle (NVG) training, as well as scenario-based training for offshore, search and rescue (SAR) and confined area operations.

“Working with HELISIM and the training we received from American Eurocopter has been great,” said Denise Landis, Survival Flight Critical Care Manager. “The responses we have received from the pilots who attended the training have been overwhelmingly wonderful.”

Jeff Dowdal, Rotor Wing Site Manager for Survival Flight, attended the training and said the whole process was outstanding. “The training was excellent, the facilities were great and the service we received from HELISIM before and during our training was remarkable,” he explained.

HELISIM’s Customer Service team works diligently to provide its customers with world-class service, in addition to world-class training. The team is available to make sure customer expectations are exceeded. Coordinators are available to advise in terms of planning, hotel, car rental, restaurants, sightseeing, and for administrative matters during the training program.

For more information on the types of training and packages available, visit www.eurocopterusa.com/training or email training@eurocopterusa.com.