Night Flight Concepts Completes NVG Pilot & Maintenance Qualification for Cougar Helicopters SAR
Night Flight Concepts, a provider of night vision solutions, announces it completed the Initial Pilot Qualification and NVG Instructor Pilot training for Cougar Helicopters. Training was conducted in the Bell 206 Helicopter at the Palm Beach Helicopters Alignment Training Center in Lantana, Florida.
“The overall goal was to provide Cougar with a standardized NVG training course and instructor pilot training so they could then go back to their main location and conduct initial training for their remaining pilots and flight crew,” states Adam Aldous, Night Flight Concepts president & CEO.
Along with training, Night Flight Concepts also assisted Cougar Helicopters with the development of their General Operations Manual and approval from Transport Canada. “The development and approval process for the operations manual was a big task, as there are only a few approved NVG programs in Canada,” explains Aldous. “NFC was more than happy to assist and lend our experience and guidance to Cougar throughout the entire process.”
In addition, Night Flight Concepts also provided the Cougar Helicopters Avionics Technicians with NVG Inspection and Repair Equipment training. The curriculum included training on inspection, certification and repair. This training now certifies Cougar and provides them with the opportunity to manage these processes in-house, instead of the previous method of outsourcing the management to an inspections and repair facility every 180 days.
“NFC provided invaluable training and support for flight crew and technicians,” explains JJ Gerber, director of flight operations for Cougar Helicopters. “The additional training for our Avionics Technicians on training management of our NVG equipment also allows us to maintain an operation ready rate of 100% at all times without any downtime.”