Why Simulator Authenticity Matters -- Fain Simulation Systems Duplicates the Real Feel of the F-16

I/ITSEC, the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, is held late each calendar year. Among the exhibitors at the 2010 event in Orlando was Fain Simulation Systems, a division of Fain Models which entered the simulation industry to produce high quality, reliable, well-supported simulated hardware for commercial and military flight simulators at a fair price.

The company claims the ability and knowledge to develop, design, and create almost any simulated ejection seat or cockpit hardware with the look, function, and feel of the real thing.

ANN CEO and Editor-in-Chief Jim Campbell spoke with Matthew Sibley, Systems Integrator for Fain Models and Simulation, about a high-fidelity cockpit simulator for the F-16 which gives a realistic feel against body pressure points in maneuvers such as stalls, high-G turns and takeoff and landing.

In various simulated maneuvers during this interview, Sibley's voice clearly demonstrates the realism of the shaking which accompanies the buffeting before a stall. In explaining the point of this level of fidelity, he explains, "The purpose... is to give muscle memory indication to the pilot that's training.

"There's a lot of issues with training pilots where they practice maneuvers at a high-G, assuming they'll be able to pull off those maneuvers in real life. It's not that they physically can't, but it may not be ideal to pull 9G all the time. So this gives you a quick and direct way of knowing, 'hey, this is where my real-world limits are when I'm doing this.'"

FMI: www.fain.com/fain-simulation-systems.html, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews