New Simulator the Centrepiece of Heliwest Upgrade

The Western Australian headquarters of Heliwest has undergone a $1-million upgrade at its Jandakot facility in Perth’s southern suburbs.

The centerpiece of the revamp is an Elite Twin Squirrel Flight Simulator providing state-of-the art training for new students and pilots seeking to upgrade their skills.

 The simulator replicates an IFR AS355 Twin-Squirrel helicopter and has been certified by CASA in Australia, the JAA in Europe and the FAA in the USA under visual and instrument flight conditions. It’s equipped with high level instrumentation and controls and a class specific flight model.

 The environment provides visual scenery with continuous time of day settings, airport lights, wind and cloud layers and an atmosphere model.

 The instructor station has an intuitive user interface with malfunctions page, map page and weather page.

“Apart from basic training, the Squirrel allows pilots to train for both night and instrument flying,” said Heliwest chief pilot Ashley Williams.   ”Another great benefit is that pilots can learn how to handle both emergency and non-emergency situations in the safety of a simulator.”

 The new simulator is also extremely cost-effective with hourly rates considerably cheaper than flight hours.

 The Squirrel simulator was also purchased with an eye to the future.

 “It will be invaluable to Heliwest pilots as the company moves ahead with its intention to enter the offshore helicopter transportation market,” Mr Williams said.

 “It has a comprehensive data base showing all ports and towns in Western Australia as well as landing facilities on ships and oil rigs.”

 Heliwest is also exploring the possibility of hiring the simulator to other companies and marketing ‘joy flights’ for the general public.

 “We’ve had quite a few ‘non-pilots’ take the controls of the simulator and without exception they’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience, Mr Williams said.

 For simulator bookings, visit the website at www.heliwest.com.au or contact Heliwest’s Perth office on 08 9499 7700.