March 14, 2025
New products aimed at making the aviation industry safer are leveraging fast-paced developments in technology along with clever, innovative ideas. These promising innovations include enhancing pilot training through virtual reality, protecting aircraft with a 3D management system and enabling pilots to maintain visibility when life-threatening smoke fills the flight deck.
Using Apple Vision Pro for VR Pilot Training
As the demand for new pilots has continued to ramp up, so has the need to make every minute in a simulator count. Global training provider CAE has recently introduced a new, remotely accessible pilot training solution to help achieve that goal.
CAE’s recent introduction of its “immersive pilot training app” built for Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computing system was created to take a giant leap forward in that direction.
“It’s very similar to being on the flight deck. Learners can read all the markings and displays and manipulate the controls with natural gestures and hand movements,” said CAE Director of Incubation Erick Fortin. “The system can detect tiny hand movements and knows if you are operating the controls correctly. It’s very realistic.”
CAE has initially focused on two types of training for the system. “The first is flight deck familiarization so learners can get to know the flight deck layout and control operations and practice all the required steps,” said Fortin. “The second is guided procedural training, where they can learn the specifics of that aircraft’s operations.”
Obviously, familiarizing yourself with all the controls and functions before getting in the simulator will save a lot of time and allow the learner to concentrate on “flying” the airplane instead of spending valuable sim time learning what control is where.
“The system will empower the learner to do more on their own to prepare for their upcoming training with us,” Fortin said. “They can wear the headsets in our classroom or at any remote location and access the training remotely via our app. The virtual technology will complement and enhance what we offer to help them train better.”
The new app is being tested as an option for CAE training for the Bombardier Global 7500 and is scheduled to become part of training options in spring 2025, starting with the Global 7500.
Maintaining Pilot Visibility Through Smoke
Although wearing an oxygen mask during an inflight fire may offer pilots relief from smoke and fumes, it doesn’t improve visibility. With that in mind, Klatt Works has introduced its new SAVED (Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display) full-face oxygen mask with the capability to show head up display (HUD) and enhanced vision system (EVS) overlays.
“During a smoke emergency, you just put your mask on, and the aircraft’s HUD and EVS displays are right in front of your eyes so you can concentrate on flying the airplane,” said Ron Gofron, director of marketing and sales for Klatt Works, Inc. “During our testing, the FAA covered the front of the oxygen mask, and 10 out of 10 pilots were able to nail the landing using the SAVED system.”
As for installation requirements, he explained that the SAVED system is HUD and EVS ‘agnostic,’ meaning the technology doesn’t care what type of system supplies the information.
“As long as the aircraft’s HUD system has NTSC or SDI output formats, we can configure our system to work with it,” Gofron said. “In addition, we can configure both the pilot’s and copilot’s masks to have the displays so both will have the added safety benefits.”
He also said that to make the life-saving technology accessible to as many flight departments as possible, the company is working with AMETEK MRO to offer SAVED overlay retrofits for many popular oxygen masks.
Regarding STCs for the SAVED system, Gofron said they currently have approvals for Boeing’s 777 and are actively in process for the 767, as well as Gulfstream’s G550 and G650.
3D Management System Guards Against ‘Hangar Rash’
Nobody wants to get that call saying their aircraft was damaged in a ground handling accident.
In fact, once you add up all the secondary costs like short-term replacement, lost revenues, increased insurance and decreased aircraft value, it’s estimated that so-called hangar rash costs the aviation industry more than $5 billion a year.
“Unfortunately, human errors weigh heavily when it comes to these types of incidents,” said Fyve By Co-Founder and CEO Ben Youngstrom. “Our system takes 80% out of the error equation by giving ground handlers the information they need to help them safely maneuver the aircraft inside the hangar.”
The company’s real-time 3D hangar management system uses ceiling-mounted sensors and advanced algorithms to locate all of the aircraft, equipment and vehicles in the hangar.
“We take all that data and live stream it to a tablet, providing operators a simple solution to what is a very complex problem,” said Youngstrom. “If there’s any danger of the aircraft moving or contacting anything, the operator gets both aural and visual warnings. There’s nothing like it in the industry.”
“It’s so much easier and safer than trying to communicate with wing-walkers,” said the company’s Senior Sales Executive Chadd Smith. “We are equipping the handlers with easy-to-use, real-time awareness about the hangar environment. When you’re moving multimillion-dollar assets in a confined space, it’s a really good thing to have our system watching your back.”
“We can also give FBOs and MROs the ability to safely position more aircraft in their hangars because they know exactly where each wingtip is,” said Youngstrom. “If any operator has more than one airplane in their hangar, our system is a huge safety benefit.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.