Swiss Air Rescue Rega is purchasing a new helicopter simulator. With its interchangeable cockpit, Rega crews will be able to carry out training for different types of helicopters in the same simulator. The Reiser simulator is currently being developed and is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2023.

Well trained crews form the basis of safe and successful rescue flights. In the simulator, Rega helicopter pilots can efficiently train for standard situations and emergency procedures that cannot or can hardly be practised in real life. In addition, they do not cause noise or pollution for the environment. As early as 2013, Rega put its own helicopter simulator into operation near Zurich airport for its AgustaWestland Da Vinci mountain helicopter. Simulator training for crews of the other type of helicopter in use at Rega, the Airbus H145, takes place in Germany.

The new simulator consists of two components: a movement platform that translates the pilot’s control commands into authentic movements with the help of a hydraulic system and a realistic cockpit replica that can be driven onto the motion platform on rails. With this so-called ‘roll-on/roll-off’ system, cockpits of different types of helicopters can be used on the same platform. First of all, the new simulator will be equipped with the cockpit for Rega’s future, all-weather Leonardo AW169-FIPS. This not only enables Rega pilots to realistically train for flights in difficult weather situations such as icing conditions, but also complete retraining on new types. In a second step, the system will be used with the Airbus H145 cockpit.

In principle, the new system can be expanded with any future Rega helicopter and all simulator training courses for crew can be carried out at the same location near Zurich airport. This significantly reduces the time and travel required for training.

Rega is investing around 15 million Swiss francs in the new system, which is expected to go into operation at Lufthansa Aviation Training (LAT) in Opfikon in mid-2023. LAT will operate Rega’s modern training equipment and also offer free capacities to third-party customers.

The new full flight simulator is certification class level D from the German company Reiser Simulation and Training, D being the highest current certification class. All instruments and equipment are available in the simulator’s cockpit. Its visual system displays the entire topography of Switzerland in high resolution.