Asia's first chopper pilot simulator opens at Safdarjung airport

Stuck in a heavy traffic jam you must have thought of flying your car to your home. But before flying cars become a reality, you can fly a chopper and that too as a pilot, even if you are not trained as one.

A Delhi-based firm Shaurya Flight Sim (SFS) has installed a helicopter's flight simulator at the Safdarjung Airport in the Capital.

Apart from training professional pilots in skills of handling Bell 206 and Bell 407 helicopters, the simulator would also provide a chance to flying enthusiasts at experiencing how it feels to be in the driver's seat of a flying thing.

The rookies can enjoy being in the flight at Rs 14000 per hour.

SFS COO Sqdn Ldr (retd) Manish Kumar said the main beneficiaries of the simulator would be country's pilots who have to go abroad to brush up their skills as well as get their license renewed.

"Training pilots would become cheaper by 40 per cent. A pilot had to spend around Rs 5 lakh for the renewal of license. But now, in our facility it can be done at around Rs 1.5 lakh," added Kumar.

The Bell 206 and Bell 407 helicopters are manufactured by Frasca International. Each costs around Rs 10 crore.
SFS is also planning to install a flight simulator for Boeing and Airbus aircrafts. Out of the total 300 commercial airliners in the country, 80 per cent are those manufactured by Boeing or Airbus. If such a simulator comes up in the country, it would immensely help expediting the training of pilots.

Currently, India has 700 helicopters and over the next five years 500 more would be added. "The facility will reduce the cost and time of the pilot training. It reduces the cost of training by half," said Kumar.

According to Rotary Wing Society of India, 12 fatal helicopter accidents occurred in the country between 1970 and 2008. Eight of them were due to loss of visual reference, which converts into lack of practice to fly instruments.

"The simulator facility will help in reversing the trend. The pilots will be first able to hone their skills on the dummy helicopter. Thus precious lives will be saved," said Kumar.