The Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF), the joint venture owned equally by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE, today announced the appointment of Major General (Ret’d) Ajit Hari Gadre as Chief Executive Officer of HATSOFF.

“I am pleased to join an organization established by HAL and CAE, two of the world’s leading and most reputable aerospace and defence companies,” said Major General (Ret’d) Ajit Hari Gadre, now CEO of HATSOFF. “Since its opening in 2010, HATSOFF has set the standard in India for advanced helicopter simulator training, and I am convinced that simulation-based training will continue to grow and prove to be one of the best approaches for improving safety, operational efficiency and mission readiness.”

General Gadre spent 37 years with Indian Army as a commissioned officer, retiring in June 2009 as the Additional Director General of Army Aviation. In this role, he managed the operations, training, maintenance and logistics of the entire Indian Army Aviation Corps. Prior to this assignment, General Gadre was Commandant of the National Cadet Corps Officers Training Academy. He is an accomplished helicopter pilot and a qualified flying instructor with over 5,000 hours of accident/incident free flying. During his career, he also oversaw training operations at the Indian Army Headquarters for the entire Army Aviation Corps.

Currently, HATSOFF is offering training on the Bell 412, Eurocopter Dauphin, and the civil/conventional variant of the HAL Dhruv helicopters. An additional cockpit for the Indian Army/Air Force glass cockpit variant of the HAL-built Dhruv is expected to be added to the HATSOFF training centre later in 2012. HATSOFF uses a CAE-built full-mission simulator “mothership” that features CAE’s revolutionary roll-on/roll-off cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various helicopter types to be used in the full-mission simulator. When a cockpit is not used in the full-mission simulator, it can be used as a fixed-based flight training device. The HATSOFF training centre, located near HAL’s multiple complexes adjacent to HAL Airport, also features multimedia classrooms, computer-based training, brief/debrief facilities, a training management information system and crew accommodations.