OTTAWA –  On the afternoon of the first day of this year CANSEC, in an exclusive interview, James Takats, Senior Vice President, Global Simulation and Training strategy, TRU Simulation + Training, and Montréal-based George Karam, VP & GM, Air Transport Simulation, TRU Simulation + Training, told us more about their goals in Canada.
TRU Simulation + Training was formed in 2014 when parent company, Textron, Inc. (NYSE: TXT), acquired two legacy companies serving the flight training market : Montréal-based Mechtronix and Lutz, Florida based, Opinicus and combined them with a portion of its then Textron Systems AAI business. Later that same year, TRU Simulation + Training acquired ProFlight, a part 142 certified pilot training center based in Carlsbad, California.
TRU James Takats.
Photo: TRU.
TRU George Karam.
Photo: TRU.
Mr. Takats reminded that Textron through its training and simulation arm, TRU Simulation+Training, is part of Team Spartan which includes leading industrial partners like General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, DRS Technologies, CAE, KF Aerospace, IMP Aerospace, Bluedrop, ATCO, CMC Esterline, L3 Wescam and of course Alenia which built the C-27J Spartan in Torino in Italy.
Team Spartan os one of the three contenders pursuing Canadian Royal Air Force Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Replacement Project (FWSAR-ARSVF) which aiming to replace six aging De Havilland CC-115 Buffalo and twelve Lockheed CC-130H Hercules. the Request for Proposal (RFP) was closed on January the 11th, 2016 and the name of the winner is expected before the end of the year or the beginning of next year. the two other contenders are Airbus Military C-295W and the Embraer KC390.
‘We have a relationship with Alenia for ten years now’ underlined James Takats.
Alenia C-27J.
Photo: Alenia.
In fact as explained, Mr. Takats, TRU has provided Alenia the Full Flight Simulator (FFS) for the Italian Air Force which is located in Pisa, Italy and delivered a Fixed Training Device (FTD) to the Romanian Air Force. Even it is not an exclusive deal, for the time being TRU has been the only supplier of simulators for the C-27J. Peruvian Air Force, another C-27J operator, does not have any simulator for this aircraft and has its crew training performed at Alenis in Pisa. In the case of the US Coast Guard with six of its 14 C-27J delivered, is sending its crew in Pisa for training for now.
TRU C-27J FFS.
Photo: TRU.
According to Mr. Takats both the Full Flight Simulator (FFS) located in Pisa and the Flight Training Device (FTD) Level 6 located in Bucarest with the Romanian Air Force has been built by TRU in Lutz in Florida.
In case of the selection of the C-27J Spartan by Canada, a FFS will be built in Montréal for the Royal Canadian Air Force. ‘We have the experience and the track record for the C-27J and obviously the fact that we have a presence give us the ability to be close to the end user and add local content’ added George Karam.
As mentionned by James Takats TRU is interested in every military training programs in Canada. The Textron footprint in Canada includes Bell Helicopter Textron Canada in Mirabel and TRU Simulation+Training, formerly Mechtronix, in Saint-Laurent.
Beechcraft T-6C.
Photo: Beechcraft.
Royal Canadian Air Force ‘Future Aircrew Training’ program could be a perfect fit for TRU according to Mr. Karam.  Besides its simulation and training expertise, TRU could bring the capabilities of others Textron entities like the single engine turboprop T-6A trainer and twin engine King Air aircraft built by Beechcraft, the twin jet Scorpion trainer developped by Textron, and single engine 505 and twin engine 429 and 412 helicopters built by Bell Helicopter.
He added that TRU have capabilities not only for flight training but also for maintenance training ‘We have a very strong footprint in the US when it comes to mission and maintenance training’. Currently TRU is taking care for all the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III maintenance training as well as the Boeing B-1B Lancer aircrew and maintenance training. In fact, TRU is a premier supplier of maintenance training for the US Air Force.
All across the training business, TRU have full capabilities for training solutions to courseware development to logistics support to building classroom training suites. TRU is building Full Flight Simulator (FFS) for the new Boeing twin engine long ranege widebody 777X and the best selling single aisle jetliner, the Boeing 737MAX.
Diplômé universitaire en histoire, journalisme et relations publiques, en 1993, Philippe Cauchi amorce une carrière de journalisme, analyste et consultant en aérospatiale. En 2013, il fonde avec Daniel Bordeleau, le site d’information aérospatial Info Aéro Québec.
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