Boeing Installs P-8A Training System at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island; Tom Shadrach Comments

Boeing has opened a new P-8A Poseidon training center at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington ahead of the arrival of the maritime aircraft there in 2017.

The facility is equipped with simulators and instructional materials designed to help pilots and mission crews to operate the P-8A and its sensors, communications and weapons systems, Boeing said Friday.

Boeing will also modify and update the training devices at the station over the next three years as part of a contract with the Navy.

Tom Shadrach, P-8 program manager at Boeing’s training systems and government services business, said the company aims to help train “aircrews before they ever leave the ground” through the new facility.

The training equipment installed at Whidbey Island are configured in the same way as the aircraft that is set to arrive at the station next year.