lthough both my training and tourist experiences were amazing while I attended the Sesto Calende academy, it was a significant trek to
reach a training course so far from home. With all the Leonardo helicopters being flown in the Western Hemisphere, it seemed to me that there would be great value in a U.S.-based training academy.
Well, not long after that thought at the academy in 2018, I was interviewing Paolo Petrosso, VP of Leonardo Helicopters Training-Italy, when he happened to bring up that same issue. “In the future we are certainly looking to expand our footprint around the globe. One of the key areas we are looking at is AW169 training in the U.S. We certainly need to provide simulation capabilities in the U.S. and North America, and that is something we are looking at right now.”