VR Helicopter Simulator Arrives for Alaska Pilots

Loft Dynamics announced that Pathfinder Aviation will install Alaska's first Airbus H125 VR simulator at its main base in Anchorage, giving its pilots year-round access to aircraft-specific training in Alaska.

Pathfinder operates a fleet of 22 helicopters and averages roughly 8,000 flight hours annually, supporting remote operations and precision external-load work across Alaska and the continental United States. The simulator is expected to arrive in Anchorage in October 2026, and Pathfinder plans to begin using it immediately for proficiency and mission training.

Pathfinder plans to use the simulator for inadvertent IMC (IIMC) avoidance, Part 135 emergency procedures, Part 133 external-load operations, normal and abnormal procedures, whiteout conditions, mountain, pinnacle, slope and confined-site operations, and local site and terrain familiarization. Heli-skiing will be an early focus, with Loft Dynamics developing scenery based on Pathfinder's real-world heli-ski operating areas in the Chugach Mountains.

The simulator will initially support Pathfinder's internal pilot group, with plans to make it available to other regional operators as demand develops. Pathfinder plans to pursue FAA Level 7 flight training device qualification for the simulator.

Sebastien Borel, CEO of Loft Dynamics, said: "Helicopter pilots often do their most demanding work in places where consistent simulator access is hardest to come by. Alaska exposes the limits of a training model that depends on good weather, spare aircraft and long-distance travel. Pathfinder is changing the equation by putting H125 training at its base in Anchorage, where pilots can train more often, safely and on their own schedule. The old model asks pilots to go to the simulator. We're building a future where the simulator comes to the pilots."