A FLIGHT simulator in Sale that trains King Air 350 pilots has marked 5000 hours of training. Member for Gippsland Darren Chester, Wellington Shire Mayor Carolyn Crossley and former Chief of Air Force (ret) Air Marshal Geoff Brown were guests at a celebration ceremony, held by CAE, on Friday. Mr Chester said the training facility opened in 2014 and is responsible for training pilots from the East Sale RAAF Base, and civil aviation customers.“Gippsland has a long, proud history of supporting the Australian Defence Force. We should also be proud of the businesses, organisations and individuals who work so hard in our community to help RAAF Base East Sale meet its operational and training objectives,” Mr Chester said. “Activity on the base, including the Federal Government’s $200 million investment in establishing East Sale as the home of aviation training in Australia, is making an enormous contribution to economic activity in Gippsland. “RAAF Base East Sale is a major employer in Gippsland and uses local businesses and contractors to provide needed goods and services. I’m pleased local employers and contractors, including CAE Australia, are benefiting from the opportunities being generated by the RAAF Base.” The training centre was constructed by CAE as a company-owned/company-operated facility following a contract award in 2013 from Australia’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group to deliver King Air 350 simulator services to RAAF pilots as well as air combat officers from the RAAF and maritime aviation warfare officers from the Royal Australian Navy. Ian Bell, CAE’s Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific/Middle East, said the CAE Sale training centre was a great example of an innovative business model that delivers benefits to both the Australian Defence Force and industry. “We brought high-quality training where it was needed at RAAF Base East Sale, and we operate the training centre as a true partnership with the RAAF. “As a training systems integrator capable of delivering turnkey training solutions, CAE believes this approach to long-term training service delivery can help our defence customers lower risk, increase efficiency, save money and contribute to enhanced training and operational effectiveness.” The CAE Sale training centre is also available for use by other military and civil customers for King Air 350 simulator training. Third-party customers such as Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), Hawker Pacific, and United Arab Emirates Air Force have utilized the facility for simulator training under CAE’s CASA Part 142 certification which permits delivery of integrated and multi-crew flight training as well as recurrent training and checking. The training centre houses a CAE-built King Air 350 full-flight simulator (FFS) that is accredited by the Australian CASA to Level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators.
