SimCom Acquires FSI’s Twin Commander
Training Program
Aspen Airport (ASE)as seen in the visually motion-cued Turbo Commander 690 simulator. The non-motion sim has an upgraded visual system with Level D equivalent graphics. The device was also upgraded with a G530W. Photo courtesy RSI-Visual Systems
Less than a year after getting into the business of training Twin Commander pilots using a non-motion flight training device (FTD), SimCom Training Centers has acquired FlightSafety International’s Twin Commander training program, including two Level A motion simulators.
FlightSafety shut down its Twin Commander program at its Houston Hobby Learning Center on August 31. FlightSafety had been training Twin Commander pilots in the two simulators since the early 1980s, first at a dedicated facility in Bethany, Oklahoma, near the factory where all Twin Commanders were produced, and later at its Houston center.
In announcing the sale of 14 simulators to SimCom, including the two Twin Commanders, FlightSafety said it will “increase its concentration on providing training programs for current and next-generation aircraft. This includes the ongoing expansion of FlightSafety’s worldwide Learning Center network, and the addition of new Level D-qualified full-flight simulators, training programs, and services.”
SimCom has moved the two Twin Commander motion simulators to its Dallas facility just north of DFW Airport, and expects to have them operational and approved by the FAA, along with all training courses, by the end of the year “if not before,” said Wally David, SimCom’s founder and chief executive officer.
Twin Commander operators who have been doing recurrent training at FlightSafety and have a training anniversary before the 690 and JetProp simulators are operational at SimCom can elect to use SimCom’s Twin Commander FTD and associated training program at its Dallas center.
After the two motion simulators are operational SimCom will offer customers the choice of initial or recurrent training in the motion simulators or the FTD, which will be priced slightly less than the motion sim program. Tracy Brannon, SimCom’s COO, said the company will maintain its current pricing structure for the non-motion sim, and will adopt FSI’s current pricing structure for motion sim training, at least for the foreseeable future.
The cockpit of SimCom’s non-motion,
visually-cued Turbo Commander simulator.
SimCom recently upgraded its simulator fleet, including the Twin Commander FTD, with new visual systems and WAAS-capable GPS systems. The Twin Commander FTD has a 170-degree visual system that is equivalent to a Level D simulator, and gives pilots “the full sensation of motion,” Brannon said. SimCom refers to the effect of the big-screen, wraparound visuals as “visual motion cuing.”
SimCom will adopt FSI’s current training program with no changes, at least to begin. “We will be working with the existing coursework and programs initially to expedite the transition,” Brannon said. “Then we will step back, evaluate, listen to customers, and make changes” as warranted.
ASE Runway 15 as seen in the non-motion Turbo Commander sim.
“We don’t anticipate a lot of changes,” David added. “We want this to be painless for the marketplace. We will continue to provide a good level of training at the value that our customers are used to receiving.”
Most of the 14 simulators that SimCom acquired from FlightSafety are from FSI’s Lakeland, Florida, facility. With the expansion SimCom will now have 59 simulators at five locations in the U.S.
For further information and to schedule training, contact SimCom Training Centers at 800-272-0211 or 407-275-1050, or visit the company’s website at www.simulator.com.
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