German operator and flight training organisation Air Lloyd will be using ProPilots 3D animation technology to further its helicopter missions, including flight training and aerial work. The company says it will be the launch customer of the ProPilots product and that it will also use it for the recurrent training of commercial pilots.

ProPilots as a company is able to assist with the training of private pilots, as well as having affiliation with flying schools and air operators, of which Air Lloyd is one. The software is able to simulate emergency scenarios visually using text, graphics and animation.

Air Lloyd has been in business for more than 50 years and has been carrying out flight training since the 1970s. Flight operations manager Helmut Appelfeller outlines the benefits: “ProPilots gives you 3D animations, and these are used to explain the background of failures or things that can happen in the aviation business. This will be very helpful because we didn't have this kind of product before. Now it's on the market, and it is very good.”

Air Lloyd has stayed accident free in its 50 years without the use of ProPilots. However, Appelfeller says the product will be key in maintaining this excellent safety record: “The operation itself will be more or less the same in the future, as the ProPilots technology will not influence our acquisitions or operations. We can put this technology into any future acquisitions. The product will give you a general idea of the things that can happen in the aviation business.”

The technology is based on an R22 and an EC120, due to these types being the most common training helicopters in the world. It can also be transferred to other rotary types, such as a Robinson 44 or Super Puma. “Whether it's whiteout or brownout you are in it doesn't matter, the technology is always the same,” Appelfeller concludes.