Article ID: CBB256550325

Emulating the “pucker factor”: Faith, fidelity and flight simulation in Australia, 1936–58 (2023)

unapi

In the two decades after 1936, the assessment and instruction of aviators was transformed by adopting synthetic training aids. These devices were typified by the Link Trainer, an ersatz aeroplane that taught basic piloting skills and instrument flying. Purchased both by Australian civil operators and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Link Trainer use proliferated from 1939. After 1945, an escalating accident rate led the RAAF to consider an emergent technology: flight simulators. Developed in the UK and USA, Dehmel-style flight simulators were powered by analogue computers to emulate specific aircraft types. Drawing upon Korean War experience and Canadian precedents, in 1956 the RAAF took delivery of Australia's first flight simulator, Redifon's model C.773 for the Avon Sabre fighter. Integrating both military and civilian experience, this article argues that western faith in flight simulators often ran ahead of their capabilities and fidelity to ‘seat of the pants’ flying.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB256550325/

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Authors & Contributors
Barrett, Lindsay
Connell, Matthew
Crouch, Tom D.
Jeon, Chihyung
Mindell, David A.
Munns, David P. D.
Journals
The Journal of Transport History
American Heritage of Invention and Technology
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
British Scholar
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Rutherford Journal: The New Zealand Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Publishers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT
Edition Temmen
The History Press
Concepts
Transportation--History
Computers and computing
Theoretical framework
Methodology
Accidents
Science and technology studies (STS)
People
Heagney, Muriel
Lewis, Lillian
Earhart, Amelia
Noonan, Victoria (Vicki) Sarah
John Armstrong (1944-2017)
Peel, Charlotte Emily Fforde
Time Periods
20th century
20th century, late
21st century
19th century
20th century, early
Places
Australia
United States
Great Britain
Germany
Canada
New Zealand
Institutions
Sydney Observatory
Project Apollo (NASA)
University of Adelaide (Australia)
Perth Observatory
Melbourne Observatory
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