The Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus Applied Aviation Research Center has partnered with UAS simulation company Simlat to provide beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) simulator training.

The simulators will be part of a partnership with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), and initially will be used to train partners involved in the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program. Course participants will receive a comprehensive training experience on simulation, as well as live flight events.

“Simlat's technology allows us to create a highly realistic representation of the operational environment in which we will be conducting our beyond line of sight operations,” says Kurt J. Carraway, UAS executive director of the Applied Aviation Research Center at Kansas State Polytechnic Campus.

“The use of the simulator enables our flight instructors to control environmental conditions and inject anomalies into simulated unmanned aircraft systems to provide initial, abnormal and emergency scenarios to ensure our pilots are trained to respond correctly should these instances occur in live flight. Simlat did a great job in working with us to create a very realistic environment for our operations.”

Described as a “seven-day immersive course,” the BVLOS training program will provide participants with a series of ground instruction and hands-on flight instruction. Through the simulator training, course participants can build flight plans and transition effortlessly from simulation to actual live flight.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Simlat simulators, instructors can also program unique flight conditions and a variety of flight scenarios such as system failures and environmental and weather conditions.

Kansas State Polytechnic notes that as part of the established partnership between Simlat and Kansas State Polytechnic, Simlat produced a simulation environment specific to Kansas, which allowed for detailed BVLOS operations within a local environment. This allows pilots, training participants and students to develop a flight plan with a direct transition from simulator to aircraft.

“We are honored to participate in this important Integrated Pilot Program and look forward to a long-term relationship with Kansas State Polytechnic's prestigious UAS program,” says Roy Peshin, Simlat's chief technology officer.

Eventually, the BVLOS simulation training curriculum will expand to Kansas State Polytechnic's UAS degree program offerings.