ARINC Delivers New C-5 Maintenance Trainer for Testing at Travis AFB

May 3, 2007

Annapolis, Maryland—ARINC Engineering Services, LLC has  delivered a second advanced C-5 Galaxy Maintenance Training Device (MTD) for use by the U.S. Air Force. Delivery of MTD Trainer 2 to Travis Air Force Base, California, following three weeks of successful Factory Acceptance Testing in Maryland by ARINC’s customer, the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.

Lockheed is currently upgrading the entire Air Force fleet of C-5 Galaxy aircraft under the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). Work includes the installation of all-new glass cockpits and avionics. ARINC’s specially-designed MTD trainers will allow Air Force maintenance personnel to practice rigorous “hands-on” cockpit maintenance training without removing any actual C-5 aircraft from the line.

Trainer 1 was delivered to Dover AFB in Delaware in 2006, and the Air Force is expected to begin using Trainer 2 at Travis following completion of Site Acceptance Testing in May. Unlike traditional bench training devices, ARINC’s advanced trainers are virtual duplicates of real functioning cockpits. They include true-to-life avionics; cockpit seating positions for a pilot, co-pilot, and navigator; and a working silhouette display to simulate positions of ailerons, elevators, stabilizer, and rudder. The units are so realistic they have been dubbed “an aircraft in an air-conditioned room.”

Air Force maintenance instructors control the MTD, and can realistically simulate some 200 different maintenance scenarios. The Air Force has made extensive use of Trainer 1 at Dover, actually flying some trainees there from active duty, guard, and reserve bases to use it. Trainer 1 has even been used to support aircrew training, with pilots and flight engineers performing operational and pre-flight checks on the maintenance trainer.

“ARINC is exceptionally proud of its role in developing this breakthrough in maintenance training for Lockheed and its Air Force customer,” stated Barry F. Schwoerer, ARINC Vice President, Advanced Aviation & Maritime Engineering. “We designed our MTD Trainer in detail—right down to the cockpit connecting wires and heating ducts—so Air Force technicians can achieve a full maintenance certification right on the trainer—with no need for actual aircraft downtime.”

ARINC Incorporated is the world leader in transportation communications and systems engineering. The company develops and operates communications and information processing systems and provides systems engineering and integration solutions to five key industries: airports, aviation, defense, government, and surface transportation. Founded to provide reliable and efficient radio communications for the airlines, ARINC is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and operates key regional offices in London and Singapore, with over 3,200 employees worldwide. ARINC is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

Release: 07-79

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