Bert Buyle, CEO, Euramec, tells FINN about the unique technologies it deploys for flight simulation.

Euramec was launched in 1991 in Belgium and was initially nothing to do with aviation.

Buyle explains: “We started as a service company in electronics, sourcing printed circuit boards and displays then moving into engineering, and working for telecom companies and the automotive industry. One day, we ended up doing some contracts in aviation. We saw the opportunity to move into flight simulation, designing and creating flight training devices.”

From there the company specialised in taking its specialist knowledge from other industries and applying it to aviation.

Buyle said: “We have been looking into commercial off-the-shelf systems (COTS) that are used in those industries, and then applying [and adapting them] for flight simulation. We have been using new technologies that nobody is using in flight simulation. All with the purpose of making flight training better and cheaper.”

Cutting compute power

He added: “We are running devices on very limited computer power, so we have [many] general aviation devices running on one PC only. That, along with a spectacular 240-degrees wide view, which really gives you an immersion. We also don’t believe in creating generic simulations, so if we design a product for a particular aircraft cockpit, we want the cockpit to be exactly like that. The reason why is we don’t believe in training a pilot into an environment that doesn’t exist is because later [they] will have to adapt anyway.”

In 2018, Euramec won a deal with the largest flight school in China,  the Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC), for six simulators.

Buyle said: “That makes us the reference now in China for general aviation simulators.”

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