Lockheed Martin is in the final stages of integration and testing of the first of seven flight training devices it is building for the RAAF’s new PC-21 turboprop-based Pilot Training System ahead of first delivery to Australia in the third quarter of this year.
The device is an evolution of that Lockheed Martin supplied for the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s Basic Wings Course program (which operates the PC-21 from RAAF Base Pearce). Its features include a functional replica of the PC-21’s front cockpit, a dome with a near full-field-of-view visual system and an instructor operator station which incorporates advanced display and control technology to support instructor demonstration,
direction and monitoring of training sequences.
The device has been under development and testing in Lockheed Martin’s Training and Logistics Solutions’ 1,100 square foot laboratory in Orlando, Florida, in close consultation with the RAAF.
As well as flight training devices Lockheed Martin is also supplying a fully electronic classroom environment, including the ‘Prepar3D’-based cockpit procedures trainer (CPT), which features a fully functioning touchscreen, hands on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls and a virtual instructor to guide students through complex training tasks.
The Lockheed Martin-led ‘Team 21’ includes Pilatus and Hawker Pacific and is supplying 49 Pilatus PC-21 aircraft plus the training devices and CPTs under a seven-year, $1.2 billion contract signed in late 2015. Pilatus is supplying the PC-21 aircraft, the first of which arrived in Australia in late February ahead of the Avalon Airshow, while Hawker Pacific will provide maintenance support for the aircraft.
The three companies have operated Singapore’s BWC program from Pearce since 2009.
The initial undergraduate pilot training ‘wings’ course on the PC-21 is planned for early 2019.
