Principles of Flight Simulation

David Allerton is Professor of Computer Systems Engineering in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (FIEE). He has been a Lecturer at the University of Southampton and the Professor of Avionics at Cranfield University. He has served on several national committees and is a member and past-Chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Flight Simulation Group.

• About the Author xiiiPreface xvGlossary xvii1 Introduction 11.1 Historical Perspective 11.1.1 The First 40 Years of Flight 1905–1945 11.1.2 Analogue Computing, 1945–1965 31.1.3 Digital Computing, 1965–1985 51.1.4 The Microelectronics Revolution, 1985–present 61.2 The Case for Simulation 91.2.1 Safety 91.2.2 Financial Benefits 101.2.3 Training Transfer 111.2.4 Engineering Flight Simulation 131.3 The Changing Role of Simulation 141.4 The Organization of a Flight Simulator 161.4.1 Equations of Motion 161.4.2 Aerodynamic Model 171.4.3 Engine Model 181.4.4 Data Acquisition 181.4.5 Gear Model 191.4.6 Weather Model 191.4.7 Visual System 201.4.8 Sound System 211.4.9 Motion System 211.4.10 Control Loading 221.4.11 Instrument Displays 231.4.12 Navigation Systems 231.4.13 Maintenance 241.5 The Concept of Real-time Simulation 241.6 Pilot Cues 271.6.1 Visual Cueing 281.6.2 Motion Cueing 291.7 Training versus Simulation 301.8 Examples of Simulation 321.8.1 Commercial Flight Training 321.8.2 Military Flight Training 341.8.3 Ab Initio Flight Training 341.8.4 Land Vehicle Simulators 341.8.5 Engineering Flight Simulators 351.8.6 Aptitude Testing 361.8.7 Computer-based Training 361.8.8 Maintenance Training 37References 372 Principles of Modelling 412.1 Modelling Concepts 412.2 Newtonian Mechanics 432.3 Axes Systems 512.4 Differential Equations 532.5 Numerical Integration 562.5.1 Approximation Methods 562.5.2 First-order Methods 582.5.3 Higher-order Methods 592.6 Real-time Computing 632.7 Data Acquisition 672.7.1 Data Transmission 672.7.2 Data Acquisition 692.8 Flight Data 742.9 Interpolation 772.10 Distributed Systems 822.11 A Real-time Protocol 912.12 Problems in Modelling 92References 963 Aircraft Dynamics 973.1 Principles of Flight Modelling 973.2 The Atmosphere 983.3 Forces 1003.3.1 Aerodynamic Lift 1003.3.2 Aerodynamic Side force 1043.3.3 Aerodynamic Drag 1053.3.4 Propulsive Forces 1063.3.5 Gravitational Force 1073.4 Moments 1073.4.1 Static Stability 1093.4.2 Aerodynamic Moments 1113.4.3 Aerodynamic Derivatives 1133.5 Axes Systems 1143.5.1 The Body Frame 1153.5.2 Stability Axes 1173.5.3 Wind Axes 1173.5.4 Inertial Axes 1183.5.5 Transformation between Axes 1183.5.6 Earth-centred Earth-fixed (ECEF) Frame 1193.5.7 Latitude and Longitude 1223.6 Quaternions 1223.7 Equations of Motion 1243.8 Propulsion 1273.8.1 Piston Engines 1283.8.2 Jet Engines 1363.9 The Landing Gear 1383.10 The Equations Collected 1433.11 The Equations Revisited – Long Range Navigation 1483.11.1 Coriolis Acceleration 150References 1544 Simulation of Flight Control Systems 1574.1 The Laplace Transform 1574.2 Simulation of Transfer Functions 1614.3 PID Control Systems 1634.4 Trimming 1694.5 Aircraft Flight Control Systems 1714.6 The Turn Coordinator and the Yaw Damper 1724.7 The Auto-throttle 1764.8 Vertical Speed Management 1794.9 Altitude Hold 1824.10 Heading Hold 1854.11 Localizer Tracking 1894.12 Auto-land Systems 1914.13 Flight Management Systems 195References 2015 Aircraft Displays 2035.1 Principles of Display Systems 2035.2 Line Drawing 2055.3 Character Generation 2115.4 2D Graphics Operations 2145.5 Textures 2165.6 OpenGL® 2195.7 Simulation of Aircraft Instruments 2275.8 Simulation of EFIS Displays 2355.8.1 Attitude Indicator 2375.8.2 Altimeter 2395.8.3 Airspeed Indicator 2405.8.4 Compass Card 2415.9 Head-up Displays 242References 2466 Simulation of Aircraft Navigation Systems 2476.1 Principles of Navigation 2476.2 Navigation Computations 2506.3 Map Projections 2526.4 Primary Flight Information 2546.4.1 Attitude Indicator 2546.4.2 Altimeter 2556.4.3 Airspeed Indicator 2556.4.4 Compass 2556.4.5 Vertical Speed Indicator 2556.4.6 Turn Indicator 2556.4.7 Slip Ball 2556.5 Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) 2556.6 VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) 2576.7 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) 2586.8 Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) 2596.9 The Flight Director 2606.10 Inertial Navigation Systems 2636.10.1 Axes 2646.10.2 INS Equations 2646.10.3 INS Error Model 2686.10.4 Validation of the INS Model 2726.11 Global Positioning Systems 274References 282Further Reading 2837 Model Validation 2857.1 Simulator Qualification and Approval 2857.2 Model Validation Methods 2887.2.1 Cockpit Geometry 2917.2.2 Static Tests 2917.2.3 Open-loop Tests 2947.2.4 Closed-loop Tests 2947.3 Latency 2987.4 Performance Analysis 3057.5 Longitudinal Dynamics 3127.6 Lateral Dynamics 3237.7 Model Validation in Perspective 328References 3298 Visual Systems 3318.1 Background 3318.2 The Visual System Pipeline 3328.3 3D Graphics Operations 3368.4 Real-time Image Generation 3438.4.1 A Rudimentary Real-time Wire Frame IG System 3438.4.2 An OpenGL Real-time IG System 3478.4.3 An OpenGL Real-time Textured IG System 3508.4.4 An OpenSceneGraph IG System 3528.5 Visual Database Management 3648.6 Projection Systems 3708.7 Problems in Visual Systems 374References 3769 The Instructor Station 3779.1 Education, Training and Instruction 3779.2 Part-task Training and Computer-based Training 3789.3 The Role of the Instructor 3799.4 Designing the User Interface 3809.4.1 Human Factors 3829.4.2 Classification of User Operations 3839.4.3 Structure of the User Interface 3849.4.4 User Input Selections 3889.4.5 Instructor Commands 3949.5 Real-time Interaction 3989.6 Map Displays 4049.7 Flight Data Recording 4099.8 Scripting 413References 42110 Motion Systems 42310.1 Motion or No Motion? 42310.2 Physiological Aspects of Motion 42510.3 Actuator Configurations 42810.4 Equations of Motion 43210.5 Implementation of a Motion System 43610.6 Hydraulic Actuation 44310.7 Modelling Hydraulic Actuators 44710.8 Limitations of Motion Systems 45110.9 Future Motion Systems 453References 454Index 457