Thales, the European simulation market leader, has completed installation of a Full Flight Simulator for the Dauphin AS365 N3/N3+ helicopter at the Eurocopter South East Asia Training Centre in Singapore.

The simulator is the first of its type in Asia and will meet the training requirements of civil and military customers of Eurocopter in the region.

Developed in partnership with Eurocopter under an agreement signed in 2009, the Dauphin N3/N3+ simulator is based on the latest concepts and technologies featured in Thales's new Reality H product, which is designed to meet the specific needs of helicopter operators. It includes a Dauphin N3/N3+ reconfigurable cockpit incorporating a flight model with rotor blade elements developed by Eurocopter on the basis of specific flight tests.

The new simulator will be used to provide training for specific assignments such as offshore operations, SAR (Search and Rescue) and EMS (emergency medical services), and offers numerous reconfiguration possibilities.

The Dauphin N3/N3+ cockpit, for example, can be replaced by the cockpit of another helicopter such as the EC135, while the instrument panel can be reconfigured for different instrument configurations (analogue or digital instruments, equipment options, new AFCS APM2010, etc).

The modular Reality H simulator comprises a docking station and a dome-mounted visual system mounted on a six-axis motion system. Modules representing the cockpit of each simulated helicopter are then slotted into the docking station. The instructor station module provides an optimized view of the crew undergoing training. The direct-projection visual system offers an extended field of view (210° x 70°) combined with geospecific imagery from the ThalesView NG™ image generator.

The new Dauphin N3/N3+ simulator will be qualified both as a Full Flight Simulator (FFS) Level B and a Flight Training Device (FTD) Level 3 under European EASA/JAA criteria.