Toll Helicopters new AW139 simulator on its way to Sydney

Representatives from Toll Helicopters, Toll Group’s provider of specialised helicopter services recently visited the CAE Inc facilities in Montreal, Canada, to test the simulator’s capabilities and infrastructure.

“We are happy to be at this stage of the simulator production and are looking forward to it arriving at the Aeromedical Crewing Excellence (ACE) Training Centre in mid-June to begin the next phase of its testing program.” Chris Andretzke, Project Engineer, Toll Helicopters, said.

The simulator will be qualified to Level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators, and when it arrives, will be the first of its type in Australia and provide a much more convenient option for Australian aircrew training requirements.

“It will be the one of the first simulators that will have the Phase 7 software upgrade incorporated,” said Darryl Humphreys, senior AW139 pilot.

“Once installed at the ACE Training, it will allow us to deliver the highest fidelity training experience to operators of similar aircraft.” 

This simulator will form a key part of Leonardo-Finmeccanica approved international training network with Toll Helicopters ACE Training Centre being appointed as their only OEM Authorised Training Centre for the region.  Operators can train with the assurance of OEM certified flight models, training packages and through life support.

The Leonardo-Finmeccania authorised simulator will train all Toll pilots working on the NSW Health aeromedical contract and other AW139 operators in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria and will have capacity to support any new government agency and private operator AW139 operations that commence in the coming years in the Australasia region.

The simulator will train new pilots flying the AW139 – a new generation helicopter designed with multi-role capability and operational flexibility. Toll Helicopters is currently in receipt of three of the final eight AW139s that will be operating as part of the NSW southern region emergency search and rescue contract, due to being in 2017.

Training on the simulator will commence later this year, when the Aeromedical Crewing Excellence (ACE) Training Centre opens at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, and will complement a best in class set of training options including a virtual reality full crew trainer, Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) training and a land and water winch simulator.