Trainee flight service specialist David Hoyer at the control desk of the simulator awaits a call from a taxying Air New Zealand Airbus A320 and Bombardier Q300 operating from the highly accurate reproduction of the airport at Paraparaumu.
Since early May, the Whitireia Community Polytechnic campus at Lindale (Paraparaumu) has been the base for a brand new Airways flight training simulator.
Developed in a partnership between Airways and Animated Research Limited (ARL) of Dunedin, the simulator is being used to assist with the training of four new aerodrome flight information service specialists, soon to be based on the Kapiti Coast airport. (The airport has had its name changed from Paraparaumu to Kapiti Coast for trading and promotional reasons.)
The return of a flight service facility to Kapiti Coast airport (NZPP) arose from an intensive airspace review of the skies around the airport two years ago. The service is also a requirement for the proposed Air New Zealand flights which are due to begin in October this year. The new flight service was planned to be operational by 25 July.
A total of 208 people applied for the four flight service specialist (FSS) positions, and following extensive interviews and testing the successful applicants have been working their way through instruction at the local polytechnic. The classroom phase was completed at the end of May and the practical phase using the simulator was completed in mid-July.
The permanent staff in the tower at Kapiti Coast airport will be one senior flight service specialist and three flight service specialists. The simulator is based on a wrap-around system of five large display screens, 1.524m tall and providing a 360deg visual coverage of any airfield in the world with real time traffic levels. The duty trainee sits at a typical control tower desk with realistic equipment, including the time-honoured aircraft strips and communications facilities.
Behind the screens are three operator positions where other trainees or instructors can simulate aircraft as they approach and depart from the airport. Artificial intelligence (AI) aircraft based on those used in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series of simulations provide a range of typical aircraft using the skies around the airport, many with accurate colour schemes and markings to add realism to the simulation. The duty FSS can be loaded up with as many as three aircraft being generated by each of the three other operators.
Once commissioned, the flight service will operate 0800–1700 daily, extended from about 12 September to 0625–1955 daily.
“AFIS is an information service, so the team in the tower rely on clear and concise information from pilots so this can be relayed to others utilising the aerodrome,” says Bruce Rosie of Airways Corporation. “Accurate position reports and clear intentions from pilots are essential.”
Once the simulator training for the initial requirements for staff at Kapiti Coast airport has been completed the equipment will be moved to Massey University where it will be used for the training of overseas Airways specialisation students, mainly Saudi Arabians, over the next two years.
- Report and photograph by Paul Harrison