Valencia, Spain – Air Tractor Europe S.L., the exclusive Air Tractor dealer for Europe, North Africa and Middle East has recognized the importance of developing appropriate training for pilots and technical staff that are flying and maintaining the AT-802.
Air Tractor Europe’s sister company, Avialsa T-35, is an EASA Part 145 maintenance organization that specializes in providing all levels of maintenance and comprehensive logistical support for different types of Air Tractors.
This has provided Air Tractor Europe with an excellent opportunity to establish a high-quality training system for AT-802 pilots and related technical staff. The first step towards achieving this goal was Air Tractor Europe’s request for Avialsa to provide a dual cockpit training version of the highly successful float-equipped Air Tractor AT-802A Fire Boss.
In March 2010, Avialsa provided Air Tractor Europe with the first dual-cockpit, dual-controlled, EASA-certified AT-802 Fire Boss fire-fighting and training amphibian aircraft. The development of the aircraft was a result of tight cooperation of Avialsa, Air Tractor Europe, the Air Tractor factory and Minnesota-based floats producer Wipaire, Inc.
The certification of the aircraft by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened the doors for serial production of the dual cockpit AT-802 Fire Boss and deployment in the much-needed training role. Shortly after getting access to its first dual cockpit AT-802 Fire Boss, Air Tractor Europe trained pilots of Macedonia’s Protection and Rescue Directorate that had purchased three single-seat AT-802As.
The purchase had included the training package. The positive results from the initial use of a dual cockpit Fire Boss in a training role resulted in a growing interest by several AT-802 operators. Over the past two years, a total of seven dual cockpit AT-802 Fire Boss’s have been produced by Avialsa – two of them were sold to Israel in early 2011, while the remaining five remained with Avialsa T-35 for training new pilots, keeping existing pilots current as well as for scheduled and unscheduled proficiency checks of AT-802 pilots by Avialsa Class Rating Instructors (CRI) and Class Rating Examiners (CRE).
When necessary, Avialsa uses its own dual cockpit AT-802 Fire Boss in a ire-fighting role – the presence of the second seat provides a cockpit for the air coordinator of fire-fighting operations or any other professional that can assist the front-seat pilot in performing his duties. Under the leadership of Air Tractor Europe and Avialsa president, Mr. Vicente Huerta, the quality training of AT-802 pilots has lead his two companies in numerous achievements over the past two years.
In the second half of 2010, Air Tractor Europe established an EASA Part 147 Training Center that provides technical training to the engineering staff for different levels of maintenance for the AT-802. One year later, under Air Tractor Europe’s initiative, Avialsa became the world’s first AT-802 SEAT and SEAT(SEA) Type Rating Training Organization (TRTO) under a certificate that was issued by the Spanish State Air Safety Agency (Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aerea – AESA) on 27 June 2011, enabling Avialsa’s TRTO to provide training for AT-802 pilots under specifically developed syllabuses for land-based and amphibious AT-802s. Those syllabuses can be adjusted to provide training for students with either zero or some prior experience with a land-based AT-802.
In addition, specific training courses are also available on demand or when needed by customer(s). For performing its daily operations, Valencia-based TRTO employees three CRIs and one CRE that have constant access to at least one land-based AT-802 and one AT-802 Fire Boss. The number of TRTO planes is increased when there is a need of more aircraft in the training process.
Air Tractor Europe’s vision for the future and its intentions to transform Valencia into a center of excellence for training of the AT-802 was evident during the 49th International Paris Air Show that took place at Le Bourget Airport 20 – 26 June 2011. Avialsa presented to EUREKA’s Eurostars Programme a 1.99 million Euro grant for the creation of an advanced training center for the Air Tractor AT-802. Included in the project is an AT-802 flight simulator system, officially named Flight and Navigation Procedures Trainer (FNPT) for both land and amphibious configurations. The simulator will have unique capabilities of simulating fire-fighting missions with an unparralled level of accuracy.
This project will significantly help increase the quality of training for AT-802 pilots and supplement recurrent training in the AT-802 Fire Boss. Although being key a supporter of Air Tractor Europe in its development of sophisticated training system for AT-802, Avialsa T-35 remains recognized around the globe as the largest EASA Part 145 maintenance organization for Air Tractors. The company is also known as the largest AT-802 operator in the world.
As a result, Avialsa’s fleet of single-engine fire fighting and agricultural configured AT-802 planes regularly operate in Spain, Italy and Portugal. This gives Avialsa the ability to promptly answer any urgent calls from governments or other customers from around the globe. At the beginning of 2012, Avialsa’s fleet consisted of 30 aircraft, of which 15 are land-based AT-802s and 15 are float-equipped Fire Boss’s. In addition, Avialsa also operates a fleet of Cessna 337 Skymasters for rapid deployme
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