Electronic Simulators for Study of Aircraft Flight Paths

This simulator was designed for use as an aid in the study of the problems of co-ordinating many aircraft in a given geographic area. Correspondingly, the equipment is only as sophisticated as the requirements of the special problem dictated. The main significance of the simulator lies in its ability to develop, with a small operating crew, a complex aircraft traffic situation as might be viewed by a ground based surveillance radar. Further, the simulator is capable of generating signals for use in testing and developing experimental data-processing, computing, and recording equipment. Several methods of simulating simplified aircraft tracks in three dimensions are included. Simulation equipments based on these methods are in use as data sources for track-while-scan radar repeater presentation and for direct use in ground-installed computing and recording equipment. The methods involve both integration and multiplication techniques in generating voltages which represent tracks in rectangular co-ordinates. The voltages may be used directly in computers, or video circuits may be employed to convert aircraft position to polar form for Plan Position Indicator and RHI presentation. The simulation methods vary in the degree of aircraft maneuverability from nonmaneuvering straight-line aircraft to that of fixed-rate-of-turn aircraft. The complete installation has the capacity to simultaneously generate twenty-four aircraft paths.