Glossary
Aviation training terms. FNPT II, MCC, EBT, CBTA and the AI vocabulary, in plain language.
Short definitions of the terms used across this site: flight simulation training devices, pilot courses, evidence-based training, and the AI and data terms behind AeroBrain. Each group links to the page with the detail.
Simulators
Devices and qualification. What each device type is, and who qualifies it.
FSTD (Flight Simulation Training Device)
The general term in the European rules for a training device that simulates an aircraft on the ground. For aeroplanes it covers the full flight simulator (FFS), the flight training device (FTD), the flight and navigation procedures trainer (FNPT) and the basic instrument training device (BITD).
FNPT II (also written FNPT 2)
A flight and navigation procedures trainer of level II: a device that represents the flight deck or cockpit of an aeroplane type or class and is used for instrument, navigation and procedures training. It is qualified by the competent authority.
FNPT II MCC
An FNPT II with the additional features needed for multi-crew cooperation training, such as a two-pilot flight deck. The A320 FNPT II MCC is the jet version used for MCC and APS MCC courses.
FTD (Flight Training Device)
A training device specific to an aircraft type, qualified at level 1 or level 2 for aeroplanes. SkyDynamics builds the A320 and the Boeing 737 as FTD 1 and FTD 2 as well as FNPT II.
FFS (Full Flight Simulator)
A full-size replica of a specific flight deck with a motion system and a visual system. SkyDynamics does not build full flight simulators; its range is FNPT II and FTD.
QTG (Qualification Test Guide)
The document of objective tests that shows a device performs like the aircraft or class it represents. The authority evaluates the device against it. SkyDynamics produces it with its own QTG tool.
Qualification
The decision of the competent authority that a device meets the standard for its type and level. A device is qualified for its operator; the manufacturer prepares the device and the evidence.
FSTD Capability Signature (FCS)
The description of a device introduced by Regulation (EU) 2026/781: 14 simulation features, each at Specific, Representative, Generic or None fidelity. It applies to new qualifications from 30 April 2028.
Task-to-tool
The principle of Regulation (EU) 2026/781 that the training task determines the fidelity a device must provide, instead of the device level determining what may be trained on it.
Courses and licences
What the devices are used for. From the instrument rating to the multi-crew courses.
MCC (Multi-Crew Cooperation) course
The course that prepares a pilot trained on single-pilot aircraft to work as a member of a two-pilot crew: task sharing, checklists, communication and crew decision making.
APS MCC (Airline Pilot Standards MCC)
An enhanced MCC course to airline pilot standards, with more training in a jet environment than the standard MCC course. It is flown on a device such as the A320 FNPT II MCC.
SEP IR and MEP IR
Instrument rating training on single-engine piston (SEP) and multi-engine piston (MEP) aeroplanes. One SkyDynamics FNPT II covers both, configured as a Cessna 172, Piper Seneca, Diamond DA42 or King Air 350.
MPL (Multi-Crew Pilot Licence)
A licence obtained through a competency-based course that trains the pilot from the start as a member of an airline crew, with a large share of the training in simulators.
Type rating
The qualification to fly a specific aircraft type. SkyDynamics devices are used up to MCC; type rating training on a full flight simulator follows.
EBT and CBTA
Evidence and competence. The training method behind AeroEBT.
EBT (Evidence-Based Training)
A recurrent training programme for airline pilots that develops and assesses competencies using evidence from operations and training, instead of repeating a fixed list of manoeuvres. In Europe, baseline EBT is implemented under ORO.FC.231; the reference is ICAO Doc 9995.
CBTA (Competency-Based Training and Assessment)
Training and assessment organised around defined competencies and observable behaviours, with performance measured against them. It applies to pilots, cabin crew, air traffic controllers and maintenance staff.
Mixed EBT and baseline EBT
Mixed EBT combines evidence-based training with some of the traditional checks. Baseline EBT replaces them with the EBT programme, as the authority approves it.
Competency and observable behaviour
A competency is a dimension of performance, such as communication or workload management. An observable behaviour is something an instructor can see that shows it.
ORCA
Observe, record, classify, assess: the four steps an instructor works through in an evidence-based session. Debrief, report and calibrate follow them.
Instructor concordance
The degree to which instructors grade the same performance the same way. AeroEBT measures it from the grades instructors already enter.
EBT scenario
A simulator session designed around training topics and competencies, built in the EBT Scenario Builder from the operator's safety data and aircraft procedures.
AI and data
The AI vocabulary. As it is used for AeroBrain.
Safety-critical AI
AI that supports work where an error can harm people or an aircraft, so its answers must be traceable and reproducible.
Mission-critical AI
AI that supports work that must not stop, such as operations control or a defence mission, and therefore has to keep working on the device.
High-assurance AI
AI developed so that its behaviour can be shown and audited: deterministic retrieval, a fixed model version, and a record of the evidence and of the human decision.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
A method in which a language model answers from documents and data retrieved for the question, so each answer can cite its source.
Hard real time
A function where a late answer counts as a failure, so each stage has to run inside a fixed time budget.
Time-series database
A database that stores values with the time they were measured, such as avionics data. LLiDA is the SkyDynamics real-time time-series database.
Offline first
A design in which the data a person or a system needs is held on the device and works without a connection, and synchronises with other devices when a link exists.
Live synchronisation
Nodes exchange data as it is written, so the aircraft, the edge device and the ground hold the same record.
Contextual Composition Protocol
SkyDynamics technology that holds all the data relevant to a task in memory and correlates it with each event as it arrives.
EASA AI Level 1B
In the EASA AI Concept Paper, human cognitive assistance: the AI helps a person analyse and decide, and the person decides. SkyDynamics classifies AeroBrain at this level; it is not an EASA approval.
Organisations and rules
Who is who. The organisations and regulations named on this site.
ATO (Approved Training Organisation)
A flight school or training centre approved by its authority to deliver pilot training courses.
Competent authority
The national aviation authority, or EASA, responsible for approving an organisation and qualifying its devices.
Part-147 and Part-145
The European approvals for maintenance training organisations (Part-147) and maintenance organisations (Part-145).
Part-IS
The European information security rules for aviation organisations.
Regulation (EU) 2026/781
The European rule that introduces the FSTD Capability Signature for flight simulation training devices.
CS-FSTD
The EASA certification specifications that set the technical standard for flight simulation training devices.
Plain-language summaries
These definitions are summaries for orientation, last reviewed in October 2026. The regulation, the acceptable means of compliance and your competent authority are the reference for any decision.
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