In 2006, the Eurocopter Training Academy in Kassel, Germany, enhanced its ab-initio training offer for pilots and technicians, and trainees have been pouring in both from Germany and abroad.

The “Luftfahrttechnische Schule” in Kassel which is part of the Eurocopter Training Academy is steadily becoming the reference in ab-initio training for customers of the entire EADS group.
This training center’s offer is aimed at both airplane and helicopter pilots and technicians. After a major expansion in 2003, the site in Kassel now employs more than 30 instructors, and can welcome up to 400 trainees.

Between 300 and 350 people are in the classes on a daily basis, and many new training modules were added to the program in 2006. The quality controllers for electronic systems can now receive their new “Certifying Staff CAT B2” license, as spelled out by EASA Part 66, in addition to the “Certif. Staff CAT B1”(1) license.
The B1 license has already been awarded to more than 600 aeronautic equipment controllers. In the same category, the “Line Maintenance Cert. Staff CAT A” qualification is also one of the new features on offer.
In the near future, all the classes will also be offered in English; and, as the training is valid throughout Europe, it will now be able to attract new clients outside of Germany.

Another new feature: the nine-month courses completed by the “Industriemeister”( 2 ) on aeronautic systems will result in a double certification – “Meisterbrief”( 3) and “Certifying Staff CAT B1”. “We are expecting high levels of demand for this training because we are the only training center in Germany that offers the double certification as authorized by the LBA( 4 ),” explained Detlef Ehrig, the director of the Eurocopter Training Academy in Germany.
A module covering initial training on composite materials will get underway in March 2007.
These courses will undoubtedly be in high demand because all holders of the former license must complete the coursework to comply with EASA Part 66 regulations.