FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1941
1941 - 2107.PDF
SEPTEMBER IITH, 1941. FLIGHT 153 PILOT BUGGY Ground Trainer for Learning Control Co-ordination MUCH of the time spent in training student pilots itdevoted to instilling into them the fundamental ustof elevator, ailerons and rudder, and their propei co-ordination. Lack of this familiarity with the controls can be a source of danger to the pilot as well as the aero- plane, as quick, instinctive responses to certain situation? are very necessary. The U.S. Army Air Corps hopes to shorten the training time and substantially reduce the accident rate by use of the curious device here illustrated, dubbed the "pilot buggy," which is being studied to ascertain its "effectiveness. It was conceived and designed jointly by Col. William C. Ocker and Maj. Carl J. Crane, of the Air Corps, as a reflex trainer for teaching control fundamentals on the ground prior to actual flight training, and the first model was built in the Air Corps engineering shops at Wright Field, Ohio. Banking Cockpit Seat A cockpit equipped with a standard aeroplane seat and actual controls, including stick, rudder, brake, throttle and machine-gun trigger, is suspended in a built-up tubular frame mounted on three small wheels and driven by a small petrol engine. The machine is operated on any large, smooth-paved area, and the new student, with left hand on throttle, right hand on the stick and feet on the rudder con- trols, simulates flying without leaving the ground. The cockpit is hung on bearings so that it banks in response to stick movement, just as an aeroplane does in flight. If the student makes a mistake in co-ordinating the controls and overbanks or underbanks, a warning horn sounds. The operation of a machine-gun can be practised also in conjunction with manipulation of the usual flight controls. The cockpit and front end of the " pilot buggy," shown fully exposed in one photograph to reveal the mechanism, are covered with detachable fabric coverings when in use. A fair assumption is that the obvious safety of the machine will be an important factor in shortening the train- ing period by relieving the novice of fear and giving him the confidence that is essential to concentration and full The student has throttle, stick and rudder bar and the"buggy" responds to them. Should it be over-banked or under-banked an electric horn sounds. functioning of memory when learning co-ordinated opera- tion of the controls. If this type of trainer proves as effec- tive as expected, its extensive use should save some of the instructors' time and economise in the use of aircraft, be- sides enabling the student to learn piloting more quickly and with greater safety. It will be one more step in the graduation of flying training and, though it will never sup- plant the Link, it may save some time on that much more expensive piece of equipment. "pilot buggy " was designed by two U.S. Army Air Corps officers to save training time. It simulates, as far as is possible on the ground, the flight movements of an aeroplane and allows the student to practise co-ordination of controls.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
