FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1981
1981 - 1850.PDF
1772 FLIGHT International, 6 June 1981 Link-Miles to supply Saudia training package SAUDIA has signed a £5 million con tract with Link-Miles for a Boeing 747 simulator with associated trainers. The full-flight simulator will be built to Link-Miles' Advanced Simulation Technology (AST), with a six-axis motion system and a visual system not yet specified. Two SEL 32/7780 computers will drive the simulator, while another two will provide the processing for the cockpit procedures trainer (CPT) and the four part-task trainers. Link-Miles says that its CPT design is innovative, using a colour projec tion system to display aircraft para meters to the class-members outside the CPT. One side of the CPT will be cut away to benefit those outside it. The instructor station •will use cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays and will operate like that of a full-flight simulator. Two CRTs displaying sys tems information will be located in the front window. Saudia's part-task trainers will comprise classroom model-boards rep resenting the systems—one each for avionics, electrics, air-conditioning and pressurisation. A CRT instructor console and colour projectors will be provided. Also included in the Saudia package are a flight-deck/cabin-crew intercom trainer and a door-operation trainer. Installation of the devices at Jeddah is scheduled for early 1983. Training role for Applied Dynamics APPLIED DYNAMICS has achieved the first training simulator application for its AD-10 high-speed computer, with the entry into revenue service of PlightSafety International's Bell 222 simulator at Fort Worth, Texas (Flight, February 14). The AD-10 can operate at a refresh rate of 3,000Hz, unnecessarily fast for most training simulators, which operate at around 30Hz. But development simulators for things like missiles, engines and spacecraft find such speedy operation useful, and the high speed allows a much more realistic helicopter simula tion. Hitherto, helicopter training simula tors have used conventional general- purpose computers, but a simplified model has been necessary because of the complication of helicopter dyna mics. The so-called rotor map tech nique pre-computes the rotor forces as a function of rotor tip-speed, forward speed and control inputs, placing these in tabular form in the simulator computer's memory. During the "flight," the computer looks up the relevant forces in the table, using linear interpolation between the values stored. The AD-10's high speed permits a more exact approach, whereby the forces are calculated in real time. This allows more satisfactorily for the helicopter's dynamic lag, resulting in a more realistic simulation—especially in turbulence. Missile development is an area in which the AD-10 is popular, again because of its high speed. The average miss distance is calculated by making a number of simulated attacks, the accuracy of the result increasing with the square of the number of trials. A high-speed computer is clearly an advantage, because the required number of tests may be completed much quicker. Users have included Boeing, Raytheon, Rockwell, General Dynamics and Hughes. Although the AD-lO's biggest aero space application is missile simulation, it has also been used in engine de velopment (like the Pratt & Whitney F100), and in the Space Shuttle Main Engine and remote manipulator arm developments. One possible future AD-10 applica tion is a proposed FAA statistical study of random disturbance effects in windshear. For example, the prob ability of stalling and the landing speed after windshear could be calcu lated for a large number of condi tions, to try to establish some sort of pattern. The AD-10's ability to operate many times faster than real time would allow the tests to be completed much faster, and hence more cheaply. Northrop-Wilcox delivers USAF and FAA ILSs NORTHROP-WILCOX has completed delivery of 125 Category 2 ILSs to the US Air Force, and it has delivered the first three of a civil contract for Cat 1 ILSs for US regional airports. The US Air Force AN/GRN-29 systems are claimed to save $250,000 a year at each air base because of the improved reliability and maintenance costs con ferred by the solid-state electronics. Racal-Decca is building similar units under licence for the Royal Air Force. Northrop's $21 million FAA contract is for ILSs for 205 regional airports, and deliveries will continue until March, 1984. Northrop is installing 69 of the civil ILSs, with the FAA putting in the rest. • The FAA has increased to 950 the number of replacement Vortacs, VOR/DMEs and VORs being supplied by Northrop and ITT; first deliveries are due in August. Like the ILSs, the new Vortacs use solid state electronics which are expected to produce large maintenance cost savings. Pulses -.. Sperry Flight Systems has received a $369,000 Boeing contract to de velop a nuclear-hardened digital air data computer for the KC-135. The contract includes three proto types, with options on 100 produc tion units; the system would be in stalled as part of the CFM56 re- engining programme. Plessey has delivered at least one AR-3D air defence radar to South Africa, but it is claimed to be pri marily for civil air traffic control. Racal has sold its Jaguar-V fre quency-hoping VHF tactical radio to the British Army, and further Nato orders are expected. Flight Navigation (Smiths Industries and Racal-Decca) has sold its A3I0 flight manage ment computer system (FMCS) to Kuwait Airways. The display on the pilot's control unit is in two parts. The left side gives the flight mode—minimum-fuel cruise in this case. Be/ow this are the cruise and optimum altitudes, required Mach number, projected fuel at the end of descent, step-climb informa tion and time to bottom of descent. The right side of the display gives the estimated arrival times and distances from the next few way- points. Smiths cites as advantages its use of a bubble-memory and its division of the computing tasks into several areas with their own microprocessors
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
