Turkish Airlines Pilots to Complete Training with Havelsan’s Simulators

Havelsan, combining its experience in the areas of simulator design, production, integration and maintenance in military, with the rapidly developing and growing civil aerospace sector, will be developing a Full Flight Simulator with the international D level certification for Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 737NG type aircrafts. 

Within the scope of this cooperation, Havelsan will be manufacturing the very first indigenous simulator to be used in the training of pilots for worldwide aerospace giant Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 737NG aircrafts. This simulator, which will provide both low cost and safe training facilities, will at the same time be Havelsan’s first civil aircraft simulator.

This cooperation became official Apri 19, 2016, following the signature ceremony accomplished with the participation of the Undersecretary for Defence Industries Prof. İsmail Demir, Deputy Undersecretaries of SSM, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee M. İlker Aycı and Havelsan Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Yüksel Öztekin at Turkish Airlines’ Flight Training Center in Florya, Istanbul. 

Commenting on the cooperation, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee M. İlker Aycı said, “Today, two prominent figures of our country’s aviation; Havelsan and Turkish Airlines are launching a process which will absolutely be a significant part of our civil aviation history. The very first indigenously produced passenger aircraft simulator which we will receive from Havelsan represents the start of this process. We are extremely proud to be using a completely Turkish made device during the simulator training that is the most important component of the flight training. Within the scope of the project, which will be reducing the level of our foreign dependency, the factor that also prevents the flow of an important resource to foreign countries is making us happy and motivated. Considering the fact that the test flights of a newly manufactured aircraft are being conducted initially through the simulators, we can even now claim that this simulator from Havelsan will be one of the milestones of the Turkish aircraft industry”.

Havelsan Chairman Mr.Yüksek Öztekin said, “We are proud to take our very first step towards the civil aircraft simulators market with the B737NG Full Flight Simulator Project in collaboration with the Turkish Airlines conducting flights to most destinations around the world. We have full faith in this cooperation’s growth within an atmosphere full of trust and solidarity. From now on, we aspire to fulfill all simulator and training system requirements of the Turkish Airlines as well. By this meaning that the flight simulators and training systems requirements covered by the foreign resources will be directed to domestic resources and at the same time as a result of this cooperation we’ve made with the Turkish Airlines, we will have the opportunity to export civil simulators to the world civil simulator market”. 

Turkish Airlines, having 10 simulators available, made a tender for 4 Full Flight Simulators on 3 June 2015 and Havelsan participated in the tender along with the leading simulator manufacturers of the world and won the task of developing one of the four simulators. At the end of the tender process, it was decided to procure one Full Flight Simulator with Boeing 737NG international D level certification from Havelsan that is to be put into service on 31st October 2016. In this way, until the end of 2016, the number of Full Flight Simulators at the Turkish Airlines Flight Training Center will increase to 14 and an indigenous civilian passenger aircraft simulator will be included to this figure for the first time. 

The EASA D level certificated Full Flight Simulator will enable the execution of the orientation, advanced and renewal training of the Turkish Airlines pilots’ with lower costs and in a lifelike environment. The simulator will be delivered directly to Turkish Airlines upon its production. 

These simulators are one of the most important components for increasing the training quality of the pilots. Following the ground courses, the types of aircrafts of the pilots are identified and the courses at the simulators begin accordingly. The training hours vary on the type of the aircraft and the experience of the pilot and upon the completion of the training, the pilots move onto the actual aircraft. Then again, as per the civilian aviation rules, in order to renew their know-how, pilots conduct flights at the simulators once every six months. During this training, pilots also receive emergency training under all types of environmental and weather conditions. In this way, as the potential risks are being reduced the education level is increased and therefore reducing the costs of training. 

As a result of this cooperation, Havelsan assumes an important role in fulfilling the pilot training demands of the leading airline; an airline which is well known, having one of the most active profiles in the aviation sector that has gained such obvious momentum in the last ten years. In addition to its achievements in the military area, Havelsan aims to become a notable figure in the civilian simulator field and this prestigious project bears great importance to this end as it is a demonstration of the company’s determination to enter the civil aviation sector. The production of the Boeing 737NG type simulators is aimed to serve as a starter of the future simulators to be manufactured for the Turkish Airlines.