Systems integration and upgrade of an Engineering Flight Simulator

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to digital@library.tamu.edu, referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-90).Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.This thesis presents the system integration and upgrade of the Texas A&M Flight Mechanics Laboratory Engineering Flight Simulator (EFS). This upgrade replaced the previous EFS, a simplistic design that did not resemble an aircraft cockpit or present the pilot with a visual environment adequate for basic flight maneuvers. The EFS goals included: increased field of view for scenery generation, enlarging and improving the cockpit environment, providing a rudimentary cockpit control loader and developing a reliable, portable, data acquisition system. Two head down displays, surrounded by buttons, are installed in a T-37 military trainer cockpit. A digital aircraft configuration indicator completes the instrument panel. Optical encoders monitor all cockpit control effectors connected to a control loader providing a linear stick force gradient and 12 lbs. maximum force. A serial based data acquisition system records all parameters and is compatible with all foreseeable computing platforms. A projector frame, mounts three projectors displaying information from a Silicon Graphics Inc. computer yielding a 148⁰ field of view on three eight foot wide screens. The system provides a significant research tool for testing and evaluation of the General Aviation Pilot Advisor and Training System, a fuzzy logic based pilot advisory system