GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC

Visual system supplier Evans & Sutherland (E&S) has teamed with leading players in Russia's simulation industry to pursue the market for new and upgraded training devices for Russian-built aircraft. The US company has signed agreements with Russia's TsAGI central aerohydrodynamics institute, GosNIIAS aviation systems research institute and simulator manufacturer Penza.

The first product of these agreements is a joint venture to provide a Mil Mi-8MTV helicopter simulator to be operated by St Petersburg Aviation Repair (SPARC). E&S will provide a SimFusion PC-based image generator for the simulator, which will be delivered this year to overhaul specialist SPARC's St Petersburg training centre.

Penza is Russia's leading simulator manufacturer, while TsAGI specialises in airframes and aerodynamics and GosNIIAS in avionics and weapon systems, as well as image processing and terrain information. "We are interested in bringing together the airframe, database and simulator specialists and putting the three pieces together with the latest generation of visual systems," says E&S chief executive Jim Oyler.

There is a large installed base of simulators for Russian-built aircraft, few of which have been modernised, and there are several new aircraft in development. "Russian industry is capable of putting together the cockpit portion less expensively than Western companies. Combined with a state-of-the-art visual, this will provide a very effective simulator," says Oyler, who believes the Russian market will be profitable for E&S in the short term. "There is opportunity for both retrofit and new programmes. It will more than pay for itself next year."

Salt Lake City, Utah-based E&S is offering its EP-1000 civil, Harmony 2 military and SimFusion low-cost visual systems. If the opportunity is a visual upgrade, the company will work with Penza. If it is a simulator upgrade, TsAGI will be involved, Oyler says. GosNIIAS will help generate databases for hundreds of Russian airports. The Mi-8 simulator venture includes Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and TsAGI simulation subsidiary Dinamika.

Source: Flight International