In the early 1950s, Link produced the C-11B jet flight trainer, the first basic jet simulator for all branches of the military. Link also began developing simulators for specific aircraft. The B-47B flight simulator was the first simulator for a modern jet bomber. The F-4C Weapon System Trainer allowed an F-4 Phantom crew to learn how to operate its missiles and radar system. Virtually all new American military aircraft and helicopters soon had dedicated simulators. The military operated simulators for everything from fighters to bombers to helicopters to cargo transports.
  |
|
It was realised from the earliest days of programmable electronic digital computers that a potential application would be in real-time digital simulation. The advantages of digital computers, improved fiexibility, repeatability and standardisation, were approached by the U.S. Navy who initiated a research program at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. The general purpose computers of the time could not be used directly for real-time right simulation, due to their poor arithmetic and input-output capabilities. In addition, reliability began to fall in spite of improved hardware and design technology, or at best was only maintained by the efforts of maintenance teams. At that time, the required use was around 8-10 hours per day for five days per week. This was soon extended to six days per week, even then, the requirement of today, for a training utilisation of virtually 24 hours per day for seven days a week could be foreseen. It thus became obvious that the demands for increased fidelity of simulation and reliability could no longer easily be met with analogue machines even with the use of the new solid state elements which had appeared. Around this time the second generation of digital computers, started to materialise, and were able to satisfy the speed and cost requirements of right simulation.
|
|
| Another early flight simulator system, using conventional analogue computers of the type. The military was always the primary customer that driving demand. |
As a consequence, there was an almost total swing to digital simulation for all but the simplest trainers. The military was the primary customer driving the demand for new and more capable simulators. Because military aircraft often operate at the edge of their performance envelope and include many sophisticated systems, it is easier, cheaper, and safer for pilots and aircrew to gain experience on the ground, where they can "crash" a plane repeatedly while learning. Link and other companies also continued to build simpler simulators for the general aviation market, primarily for basic flight training for private pilots. But by the 1950s, commercial airlines began expressing an interest in simulators for their passenger jets. In particular, they wanted to simulate in-flight emergencies such as engine fires or control system failures. Soon Link developed simulators for the DC-8, 707, and DC-10. Other companies also entered the commercial aircraft simulator business, including Redifon and CAE.
|
|
)
 Photo of Jay Forrester.jpg','none')){kind=link}