Research in a high-fidelity acceleration environment [tactical aircraft]

The lightweight cockpit (LWC) installed in the human centrifuge at NADC, one approach to creating an acceleration environment similar to that of tactical aircraft, is described. This centrifuge is capable of very high onset and sustained accelerations. A pilot in the human centrifuge flies an aircraft simulation to maintain a target aircraft inside the gun pipper of a head-up display. The pilot is in complete control of the centrifuge through the simulation, and if the target tracking is accomplished successfully, the centrifuge will produce an acceleration profile that matches the target aircraft. The LWC starts with an enhanced aircraft simulation with a performance envelope that exceeds that of current inventory aircraft. The centrifuge is equipped with the flight controls necessary to fly the simulation in an air combat scenario. The display system is a high-resolution wide-field-of-view computer graphics system that is used to present a real-world gaming area, an aerial target aircraft, and a high-fidelity head-up display. The aerial target flies profiles that are either actual engagements recorded from air combat maneuvering ranges or flights recorded using the enhanced aircraft model simulation