News
Embry-Riddle adds Active Level D Full-Motion Training Device
Feb. 26, 2013, Daytona Beach, Fla. - This fall, flight students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach Campus will be able to take the controls in a sophisticated full-motion flight simulator purchased from FlightSafety International.
February 26, 2013 By Carey Fredericks
Once the FAA qualifies the device at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, the university will have the only active Level D full-flight simulator in collegiate aviation. The CRJ-200 Level D simulator replicates the cockpit and instrumentation of a regional airline jet and enables students to safely train for operations in realistic, difficult conditions, such as adverse weather. It will be installed this summer in the university’s Advanced Flight Simulation Center.
“Our mission is to prepare our graduates to be airline-ready,” said Ken Byrnes, chair of flight training at the campus. “We have a long history of using flight simulation to teach our students the superior decision-making skills demanded by the pilot profession. A full-motion simulator on campus will strengthen our training program even further, ensuring that our students attain a significant amount of experience in a multi-crew environment while operating in difficult conditions.”
The new simulator will be used to help Embry-Riddle students qualify for a proposed Federal Aviation Administration ruling that will require all pilots who wish to obtain Airline Transport Pilot certification to complete a training course. This course requirement stems from new conditions set forth by the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. The act mandates all airline pilots to have an Airline Transport Pilot license that requires 1,500 hours of flight time including cross-country, night and instrument flying.
However, under the FAA’s proposed rule, students at aerospace degree-granting universities like Embry-Riddle would have to accumulate only 1,000 flight hours to qualify for the ATP license. Embry-Riddle has created a special course that will utilize the flight simulator to help prepare its students for the ATP exam.
“The airline industry consistently reports that our airline pilot graduates are among the most highly regarded,” said Tim Brady, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus. “The addition of this simulator will ensure that our graduates both meet industry needs and fulfill the FAA’s new requirements.”
