The Indian Air Force (IAF) trainee pilots might be cutting teeth on more than 70 “winged beauties” from Switzerland, but at the Dundigul Air Force Academy, it’s the simulators which are helping to cut down costs.
The Academy presently has 73 Pilatus PC-7, two-seater aircrafts, that are being used to train the IAF cadets. However, a significant time also has to be clocked by these pilots with the near-real 360 degree simulators. In the first six months, the cadet has to complete 55 hours of sorties in an aircraft as well as 10 hours of simulation.
Though the cost of the simulator system is as expensive as a basic training aircraft, it saves a lot economically during training, according to senior officers of the IAF. The system can create any weather or location conditions while the simulators replicate the exact controls of the Pilatus aircraft. A software acquired and used by the academy helps the pilots replay and review their flying performance.
The 6,700-acre campus houses about 12,000 IAF staff and their family members.
In view of the Air Force Day celebrations on October 8, a media tour of the IAF Academy at Dundigul was organised on Thursday. As part of its initiative to become a paperless office, the academy has included technical training programmes for its ground cadets to use and store information digitally.
