FLIGHT SIMULATION
34 SHOWCASE 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
investigating means to
improve the safety and
efficiency of low-visibility
and low-altitude flight.
The CSF’s simulator
allows pilots to fly with
these technologies while
operating at onshore
heliports and airports in
urban environments. This
could include locations such
as hospital helipads as well
as helidecks, that represent
the Gulf of Mexico and
North Sea oil rigs, where
fog often reduces visibility
and can hide obstacles such
as cranes and other equipment from the view of pilots.
These tests will also help Johnson’s team to determine
what kinds of lighting, paint, and markings are needed at
helipads, heliports and vertiports – a topic that supports
the USHST’s Infrastructure Working Group.
URBAN AIR TAXIS
Johnson’s team also plans to use the simulator to study
concepts for route structures, navigation requirements,
and infrastructure for urban air mobility or electric
vertical takeoff and landing. In addition, the simulator is
expected to be used by Johnson’s team to develop
additional safety enhancing technologies for aviation
weather research such as upcoming weather in the cockpit
studies and trials that look to expand the use of the
Helicopter Emergency Medical Services weather tool,
especially for helicopter flights in marginal or inclement
weather. These conditions are often prevalent in the Gulf
of Mexico, North Sea, Alaska, and other parts of the world.
Additionally, the S-76 simulator is integrated into a
variety of laboratories and national airspace system
functionality at the Technical Center and elsewhere. The
simulator features a virtual radio system that links to the
air traffic control simulators, which recreate things such as
air traffic control operations, at the Technical Center and
the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, allowing test
pilots to communicate with test controllers and other
pilots in manned or unmanned simulators. The simulator
is connected into the Technical Center’s Target Generation
Facility so that it can operate in shared environments with
other laboratories.
This integration allows the simulator to incorporate
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast functionality
and other traffic and weather information onto the
primary flight display, multifunction display, or electronic
flight bags. This ability of the simulator to connect to other
labs is useful for studies looking at flying around low-level
infrastructure at airports, new routes for helicopters, and
low-altitude flights in urban environments.
“It can go to any of the controller’s radar scopes, the
virtual towers, and other simulators, which allows the
pilot to interact with controllers just like they do in real
life,” Johnson says.
“We have the ability to present the data that comes out
of the simulator so it shows up in the control tower
simulator, any of the manned simulators, and several
unmanned aircraft simulators that we have here at the
Technical Center. The ability to perform live, virtual,
constructive, integrated and distributed simulations is a
hallmark of what we do here at the Tech Center.
“I’m very grateful and excited that we now have the
ability to do that with a rotary-wing simulator which is a
capability that was lacking for quite some time.” \\
Chirs Troxell is a staff writer at the FAA
“The team is investigating
means to improve the safety
of low visibility flight”
5 // The simulator can
display real traffic and
weather information on to
its displays and flight bags
(Photo: FAA)
6 // The research team,
from left: Cliff Johnson,
Lacey Thompson, Tyler
Travis, Jean-Christophe
Geffard and Julian Babel
(Photo: FAA)
5
6
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