Boeing [BA] and its Dutch partner the Rotary Wing Training Center (RWTC) this week officially opened a state-of-the-art CH-47 Chinook helicopter maintenance training facility near Royal Netherlands Air Force base Gilze-Rijen.
The RWTC is a subsidiary of the Netherlands’ World Class Aviation Academy (WCAA).
“Partnering with the WCAA and RWTC means we now can provide high-quality training to our international customers closer to their home bases, saving them time and money,” said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president for Training Systems and Government Services.
The Netherlands ordered six CH-47F (NL) Chinooks to its fleet at the time of 11 CH-47D (NL) aircraft. With initial delivery in 2011, the Netherlands is the first international customer to field the new CH-47F.
The training, which began at the Center in March with the Royal Netherlands Air Force and added the Royal Australian Air Force in April, includes current technical information and courseware tailored for CH-47 mechanics, technicians, pilots and crew members.
The full training program covers theory, troubleshooting and fault isolation, as well as maintenance and servicing, the company said in a statement. Students receive practical training on a retired Chinook airframe, providing a more realistic learning experience.
“Our partnership with Boeing is the best example of how we work together with partners,” said Peter Huis in’t Veld, director of the WCAA. “It gives us the opportunity to extend our training portfolio with custom-made Chinook training packages and meet the growing need of Chinook users worldwide to have enough well-educated technicians ready.”
In November 2009, Boeing and the WCAA teamed to provide both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft maintenance training and pledged to work together to develop courses that meet the educational needs of the Netherlands aviation industry. The RWTC is the first facility and training program to result from that agreement.
The training center is located at Gate2, a platform established by Midpoint Brabant, the economic cooperation program of the Midden-Brabant region, for innovation and development in the aviation maintenance sector.
Activities at Gate2, as well as the WCAA and Boeing collaboration, advance the World Class Maintenance initiative supported by the Dutch government to bolster the Netherlands’ position as a regional hub for military and civilian aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and related training activities to increase the volume of MRO work in the Netherlands.