A LOW-COST COCKPIT FAMILIARISATION TRAINER
FOR THE EH101 HELICOPTER
Dr Michael Reakes
Systems Engineering Manager
Westland System Assessment Limited
Yeovil, United Kingdom
INTRODUCTION
The Customer Training Centre at GKN Westland
Helicopters required a training device to teach
basic cockpit orientation and procedures training
for the EH101 helicopter, Figure 1.
Figure 1 - The EH101 Helicopter
The target trainee population includes both pilots
and maintainers. They are generally experienced
in older-generation helicopters. The main new
technology they will encounter in the EH101
cockpit includes:
An Electronic Instrument System (EIS or
"glass cockpit") with multiple page formats.
Presentation on the EIS of advisories,
cautions, and (flight-card) check lists.
Simpler engine management because of Full
Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).
A computerised Aircraft Management System
(AMS) with extensive Health and Usage
Monitoring System (HUMS) capabilities.
A physical three-dimensional replica cockpit was
available when an engineering rig (for the
evaluation of cockpit lighting) completed
development tests. Figure 2 is a photograph of the
exterior of the lighting rig. The interior of the
lighting rig contained the basic cockpit structure,
but the majority of the cockpit panels, controls and
displayed had been removed.
Figure 2 - Exterior of Disused Lighting Rig
The Customer Training Centre's original intention
was to acquire the lighting rig and to refurbish it
into a static high-fidelity but non-interactive
cockpit mock-up. Several competitive costings
were obtained, but all exceeded the limited budget
allocated to this project, primarily because of the
high-cost of aircraft switches and indicators.
This paper presents an innovative solution, which
not only met the budget, but also provided
extensive interactive feedback (visual and audio
cues) in response to cockpit actions.
Before we present the system architecture for the
low-cost solution adopted, we will review the
training objectives, and instructional strategies for
learning cockpit skills.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The Systems Approach to Training (SAT)
[References 1 to 6, inclusive] provides a closed-
loop iterative approach to the Analysis, Design,
Conduct and Evaluation of Instructional Systems
(Figure 3).
