The first full-flight simulator for helicopters made in Brazil has gone live – and it’s known as SHEFE (Simulador para Helicópteros Esquilo e Fennec), picking up the names given to the AS350 in Brazilian Naval and Army roles.  Given the local Helibras production line, it seems likely that the simulator will be fully employed just by military pilots and the fast-growing number of civilian pilots will still have to look elsewhere for such training.

The project has been sponsored by the Brazilian Army, who had previously relied on Eurocopter simulators in France, at significant expense in air fares, accomodation etc for 250 pilots to date.  Costs of SHEFE amount to $3 million since it was first started nearly four years ago.  A traditional dome shape, the software currently provides for the full range of scenery covering Brazil.  It is not known at this stage whether that will be extended further afield.

There is a Portuguese language report on YouTube about this simulator here

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com