AN ENGINEERING FLIGHT SIMULATOR FOR LIGHT AIRPLANES

Abstract

This paper discusses the mathematical modeling of the aerodynamic, flight control, propulsion, groundhandling and environmental characteristics of the airplane, starting from the general equations of airplane motion. The entire model is evolved and implemented on the parallel digital computer system constructed by a number of new VLSI single chip computers, TRANSPUTERs. The principles of computer generated image, computer display and sample system are discussed. The paper deals with the hardware and software integration of the engineering flight simulator components and the testing of the complete flight simulator. Finally, some successful applications of the flight simulator to the several kinds of light airplane were presented. The flight performances of the AD200 airplanes as determined on the simulator, are compared with flight test data and the responses to control inputs based on the computed aerodynamic characteristics and on the experimental data. The simulator can be used for certification and design development of light airplane, researching flying qualities and control system requirements, pilot training, and evaluation of competitive designs and operational procedures.