The Use Of Flight Simulators For Experiments In Aerodynamics Courses

This paper summarizes the results of a novel approach to introduce flight simulators into an aerodynamics and flight mechanics course as a kind of virtual laboratory. Student response to this approach has been excellent, with many students willing to put in extra time above and beyond usual course requirements to participate in this part of the program. Four hardware and software packages are described, and are evaluated relative to the course objectives. The simulator selected is a personal computer aviation training device (PC-ATD), not a full motion simulator. Students calculate the performance of a typical four place lightplane and then fly the simulator through a series of flight profiles to compare theory with experiment. The simulator is treated as if the students were flight testing an actual aircraft. Performance measured includes stalling speed, maximum speed, and rate of climb versus velocity. The results obtained are good enough to justify the use of an inexpensive simulator to provide an effective flight test program. The project has turned out to be highly motivational for the students, as well as a good educational experience in aircraft performance calculation verification