Walk-In Flight Simulator Using 4D Technology
In today’s intense, data rich environment, there’s so much information coming into the cockpit that you can’t just take it in with your eyes. To navigate and outmaneuver threats, pilots need to rely on other senses like hearing and touch as they immerse themselves in their environment. It’s no longer enough to just interpret the information that’s being displayed on a screen.
Raytheon’s 4D walk-in flight simulator is being unveiled at this year Paris International Air Show. The new technology can be tailored for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, which means it can be added to existing aircraft with no operational flight program or mission computer impact. That allows aging instruments to be easily upgraded on platforms such as the F-16.
“What you are going to see in the evolution of technology is bringing more sensory experience into the cockpit,” said chief engineer Todd Lovell, of Customized Engineering and Depot Services at Raytheon Technical Services Company. “There is so much information coming into the cockpit that you cannot take it in with just your eyes anymore; now it is going to be eyes, ears and maybe even touch as we go forward,” he concluded.
