Canadian simulator manufacturer CAE is confident it will secure additional customers for its so-called Augmented Engineering Environment (AEE), which enables airframers to create a virtual aircraft before cutting metal on an actual prototype.
CAE is leveraging its full AEE suite to assist Bombardier with the creation of a Complete Integrated Aircraft Systems Test Aircraft (CIASTA), which will prove aircraft systems for the 110/130-seat CSeries well in advance of the airliner's 2012 first flight.
But the firm believes other airframers will adopt similar packages. "That's why we've packaged our offering of tools and services under the CAE AEE. We are in discussions with other OEMs, and many of them have shown interest," says CAE vice-president of core engineering Marc St Hilaire.
He adds: "They [OEMs] don't need to take the whole thing. They can take elements of it. We can complement what people [already] have in their internal processes. Most of the OEMs have internal processes and tools to some extent to help them design systems, so we're competing most of the time with internal departments or internal processes, but nobody else has the complete breath of what we offer."
CAE's AEE deliverables for the CSeries includes the host analysis computer for CIASTA; an engineering simulator [E-SIM] that will have the ability to interface to real aircraft hardware/software systems; a computing environment to interface with Bombardier's integrated system test certification rig (ISTCR) and a CAE 700 Series full-flight simulator to assist with flight-test certification testing. The firm will also provide engineering support to the simulation integration activities.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
