Five Helicopter and Fixed-Wing Simulators Equipped With FlightSafety’s New VITAL 1100 Visual System Qualified to Level D

NEW YORK (January 21, 2014) – FlightSafety International announces that five of its simulators equipped with the recently introduced VITAL 1100 visual system have been qualified to Level D by EASA and the FAA. Three additional VITAL 1100 equipped simulators are scheduled to receive Level D qualification in the next few months.
“The VITAL 1100 is leading the industry with unprecedented fidelity and training effectiveness,” said John Van Maren, Vice President, Simulation.
The first VITAL 1100 visual system equipped simulator to receive Level D qualification from EASA was FlightSafety’s Sikorsky S-92 located in Stavanger, Norway. The first simulators that feature the VITAL 1100 to be qualified to Level D and approved by the FAA include FlightSafety’s AgustaWestland AW-139 and Sikorsky S-92 simulators in Lafayette, Louisiana, an Embraer 190 simulator in St. Louis, Missouri, and a Night Vision Goggle qualified Eurocopter EC-135 simulator in Dallas, Texas.
The next three VITAL 1100 equipped simulators to be qualified to Level D include an Embraer 170 in St. Louis, a second Eurocopter EC-135 in Dallas, and the company’s third Gulfstream G650 simulator that will be installed in Long Beach, California.

“Customer feedback as well as the EASA and FAA simulator qualifications with this new generation visual system confirm we are exceeding our goals to provide exceptional realism and the most effective visual training environment,” said Jon Hester, General Manager, Visual Systems.

The computational performance of VITAL 1100 is up to five times greater than that of its predecessor. This significantly enhances training by providing mission-specific environments rich in high definition imagery and 3D content. Rendering techniques based on real world physics are used with unprecedented environmental effects, dynamic shadowing and enhanced shading.

VITAL 1100 can provide system resolutions that are well over 20 million pixels for a typical out the window field of view of 200 degrees horizontally. The system also allows much greater fields of view with a corresponding increase in pixel resolution. This increase in resolution capability offers a substantial improvement in visual acuity whether on short final in a fixed wing aircraft, or during hover/land maneuvering in a helicopter.

FlightSafety has delivered over 1,000 visual systems and 800 simulators and other advanced training devices to date. The simulators and visual systems are part of an integrated training system used throughout the company’s network of Learning Centers and by many other leading commercial, government, and military organizations worldwide.

FlightSafety International is the world’s premier professional aviation training company and supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations. The company provides more than a million hours of training each year to pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals from 167 countries and independent territories. FlightSafety operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at Learning Centers and training locations in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.