Excellence with passion
From classroom to cockpit: in-flight learning at ISAE-SUPAERO!
Available online :
Discover ISAE-SUPAERO’s Centre des Opérations Aériennes de Lasbordes (COAL ), where our students go from the classroom to the cockpit.
With a fleet of 9 light aircraft, the COAL offers a unique learning experience, focusing on three main activities:
- Training for the private pilot’s licence (PPL): our engineering and masters students train to obtain their pilot’s licence, allowing them to fly a single-engine aircraft.
- Practical teaching work: from flight mechanics to flight tests, these sessions enable students to apply theoretical lessons in real-life conditions.
- Human factors research: our work focuses on the cognitive and decision-making aspects in real time of the pilot in flight, a key area for safety and innovation in aeronautics.
At ISAE-SUPAERO, engineering and Master’s students have the chance to take their pilot’s license just a few kilometers from campus. Several instructors accompany them and train them in piloting.
All are members of the Aerospace Vehicle Design and Operation Research Department, headed by Valérie Budinger.
Since 2018, ISAE-SUPAERO’s flight operations center has been equipped with a twin-engine Vulcanair P68 Observer 2. This aircraft features a telemetry system enabling flight parameters to be monitored in real time from the campus classrooms. A versatile aircraft with a large payload, it can carry a variety of sensors thanks to a hatch under the fuselage. It also features unique instrumentation for research activities and sensors for pilot monitoring (remote eye trackers, scene camera, etc.) synchronized with flight parameters. It enables us to estimate pilots’ attentional and cognitive states (fatigue, distraction, inattention, engagement, etc.) in real time during flight.
