dimanche 7 octobre 2012

What Everybody Should Probably Know About Flight Simulators And FAA Certification

By John Mosley


There are certainly some very tough guidelines that have been set by the FAA in terms of certifying a flight simulator that is computer based as being authentic enough to receive an FAA stamp of approval worthy. They given us an extensive list of clues as to what is required as well as a comprehensive outline of the criteria that computer based flight simulators must meet.

Ultimately, the big deal about computer flight simulation is related to the ergonomic connection between real world aircraft control and the computer virtual controls. The controls that are computer based must be identifiable and identical to those that exist in real aircraft. For instance, they must clearly indicate how the pilot is able to manipulate them and the computer keyboard cannot be part of the flight operations as these do not exist in real world aircraft.

Also, physical controls such as rudder pedals, joysticks and flight yokes must be interchangeable with virtual controls saving the location setting, wind parameters, configuration for air craft and stopping, pausing or simply starting the actual simulator software.

Response times are a really important factor. In professional training environments you will not only need realistic controls, but these controls will need to issue timely responses. For instance, all delays in flight controls must be 300 milliseconds or less than this. Face it - if an aircraft takes ten seconds to issue a response to the command pilot, then the driving software does not have a whole lot of value now does it? At the beginning of the program the actual computer must monitor the response times of the control systems, and the delays are substantial the warning will need to be displayed or else the game is over.

Now - as you are likely already aware - some readouts for real time simulators are of the utmost importance to trainee pilots, such heading and airspeed indicators and an adjustable altimeter. And what about when you get back on the ground? Smart thinking! As well as those important live data readouts, you will need to have the ability to analyze your flight in an after flight briefing. With Virtual Pilot 3D this is no problem whatsoever as this software records both the vertical and horizontal track of the aircraft movement for later playback. This is very helpful for training purposes, but also has a nice entertainment value as well.

Each one of these features is an important factor to consider in any flight simulator, but at the end of the day, there are no real benefits in having phenomenal features if your monitor is sub-par, so your really need to secure the best possible monitor that you are able to buy. The new LED backlit LCD displays have amazingly fast response times, contrast ratios that are excellent, extreme numbers of pixels, to provide you with fantastic visuals for your VirtualPilot 3D simulator use. You should also bear in mind that the simulator controls - pedals, throttle and flight yoke are in compliance with FAA standards and allow you to enjoy a smooth experience that is very realistic.




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