View Full Version : Simulator Evolution - The Old Days
flash8
30th Jul 2008, 17:02
I am not quite old enough to experience a Simulator that used to have a Television System (Cathode Ray Tube) connected to a Computer generating the visuals, but find it quite fascinating.
However a retired BA Captain I know recalls that he operated a 707 Sim with not just a CRT System but connected to a scale model of an Airport Landscape driven by a mounted moving camera providing roll, pitch, yaw and heavy lighting to provide depth of field.
I have searched the net in vain for information on such beasts. Can anybody offer any information.
thanks.
kijangnim
30th Jul 2008, 17:38
Greetings
I was fortunate to see one as well, it was the concorde in BA some 32 years ago.
:cool:
Meikleour
30th Jul 2008, 19:26
The Vanguard Sim used by BEA in the early 70`s was just such a system as your friend described for the 707. The Van Sim visual was only used for final approach and it could be quite unsettling at minima to look up and see a `gigantic fly` walking across the set of the runway which was mounted on a wall with a camera gantry traversing it!
This is the Redifon system around 1968 and remained the visual until CGI came about in the mid 70s.
Although we didn't fully appreciate it at the time, there was a significant radiation risk from the projectors mounted on the sim.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a154/ZFT/AC71-3921_a.jpg
fantom
30th Jul 2008, 20:54
The Phantom sims used by the Royal Air Force had moving cameras over (1) an airfield and (2) a general area.
The dead spider in front of the opening camera was a frequent event.
mnttech
31st Jul 2008, 04:00
Or the moth stuck on the head of a pin just about the Middle Marker...
I flew one in Dallas at AA, the same model was used by 5 differenet simulators, you had to "request it" prior to flying the approach, or you did the missed.
The camera actually pointed straight down at the model, there was a mirror at the bottom, along with a safety switch. Go too low on an engine out go around, that switch touched the model and BANG you went backwards. Had some co-workers just about lose their lunch on that one.
Great picture btw.
Considering this was 40+ years ago, the quality was remarkably good.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a154/ZFT/p433c.jpg