Classroom clipper, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, October 1961

              October 1961
Published by Pan American Airways
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Vol. XYtX, No. 1

"Teaching Machines" tor Instruction and Checks of Clipper Pilots Simulate Conditions of Flight in Jet Clippers
Teaching machines are “old hat” to the air lines, which have been using Link Trainers for instruction in instrument flying since the 1930’s.
Incorporated in that early Link were the basic instruments and radio aids for operation of an aircraft, on a simulated basis. And simulation of flight is the key to “teaching machines” which have followed.
In 1948 Pan American and the Curtiss Wright Corporation developed the Curtiss Wright Dehmel Flight Simulator for use by Pan Am pilots in training and checkouts on the Boeing 377 Strato Clipper. In this simulator, crews could accomplish any flight maneuver of which the Strato Clipper itself was capable, in terms of movements of controls and readings on instrument dials, without ever leaving the ground.
When the Douglas DC-7C was introduced a comparable simulator was developed for training in that airplane.
And when the Jet Clippers — the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 — were being made ready for service over the oceans of the world, the simulator designers were busy also, making ready the ground instruction models of these two big aircraft.
Like the Real Thing
A photograph of the pilot’s compartment in the simulator for the Boeing 707 is shown on this page. In a photograph the simulator cockpit is practically indistinguishable from the real thing, which is not surprising because the cockpit itself is completely realistic. The seats are real airplane seats, equipped with seat belts. Control columns, rudder pedals, throttles, switches, instrument dials, all are real components, instruments and accessories.
In many cases these items of equipment could be taken out of the mock-up and used in a real airplane. In the simulator most of them are actuated artificially; their readings are derived from impulses created by electric currents or air pressure. But this is not apparent to the crew “flying” the simulator. There is the feeling of being in a real airplane and flying it.
However, there are some very important differences and it is these differences which account for the advantages of the simulator for certain phases of flight training.
One major difference is cost. The simulator for a Jet Clipper is expensive; its cost
is a million dollars. But the real airplane costs six million dollars. Furthermore, every hour of training that can be accomplished in the simulator means time not used in a real airplane for training, time during which it can be utilized in revenue flying.
Another major difference: Conditions of flight can be produced artificially in the simulator so that training in any conceivable circumstances can be carried out, with the circumstances made to order.
See the photograph on page C2. Seated in a swivel chair, with his left hand on a control panel, is the simulator instructor. He is using a panel which belongs not to the airplane or the airplane’s simulated cockpit, but to the simulator only. This panel with its knobs and switches which permits the instructor to set up the conditions of flight. Another panel for still other purposes is in the foreground of this picture. There are still other controls which do not appear. Using these various knobs and switches, the instructor can create conditions he wants as
the basis for instruction and practice in various phases of the operation. He can give the crew a normal routine flight, unusual or abnormal conditions or real emergencies.
A practice session in the simulator is likely to be about four hours. This would be the equivalent of a flight 2,000 to 2,500 miles in length. Within this four-hour period, the instructor can easily introduce unusual situations and even emergencies such as a pilot might encounter in five or ten years of flying.
For example: The instructor might tell his captain and co-pilot that he would like them to check out the use of anti-icing equipment, first for the engine itself then for the empennage (tail assembly) and then for the wings. The captain, a man with 20 years of experience and a million miles of flying, might be a little slow in detecting and correcting some difficulty. That is to say, it might take him a few seconds instead of his spotting it immediately.
Continued on page C-2
FLIGHT SIMULATOR—The four in the picture include a captain (left) and first officer in the seats forward in the flight deck, and a flight engineer at right, in the foreground of the picture. At left, foreground, is the flight simulator instructor.