Project Whirlwind. Volume 14. Aircraft Simulation

Abstract

The initial objective of Project Whirlwind was to simulate the flight characteristics of an aircraft with the aim of obtaining pilot reaction to a proposed aircraft based on wind tunnel data without first going to the expense of building a prototype. The simulator could also be used to evaluate the desirability of proposed changes in an existing aircraft. A computer would have stored in it a program for the solution of the equations of motion of an aircraft, and the function tables representing the characteristics of a particular aircraft based on wind tunnel data. Inputs to the computer would be the pilot's control motions; outputs would be the appropriate instrument readings and quantities representing the forces on the pilot and on the controls. This is quite fully described in Summary Report No. 1 which is Vol. 3 of this series. Report R-64-1, which is Appendix A of Summary Report No. 1, presents a form of these equations as worked out by the staff of the Aeronautical Engineering Department at M.I.T. in co-operation with Project Whirlwind.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1947
Accession Number
AD0896854

Entities

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Aircrafts
  • Airplanes
  • Amplifiers
  • Computers
  • Control Surfaces
  • Control Systems
  • Electronic Amplifier
  • Electronic Equipment
  • Flight Instruments
  • Hydraulic Cylinders
  • Measurement
  • Molecular Dynamics
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Simulations
  • Strain Gages
  • Wind Tunnels

Readers

  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Data Science/Digital Signal Processing.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.