Matthew S. Whiting wrote:
>
> It seems a little melodramatic to me to consider a flight SIMULATOR to
> be a safety critical application.  Now a flight CONTROL system in a real
> airplane is another matter...
>

If you are thinking along the lines of "Microsoft Flight Simulator",
you are correct.  However, many simulation facilities for pilot
*certification* training involve a lot of large moving parts.  These
are the "motion-based" training simulators which often have a cockpit
elevated using hydraulic stilts and which allow multiple degrees of
motion.  In addition to simple take-off and landing motions (BTW,
I say "simple" knowing that the safety aspects of these activities
are not trivial), such a training device may often be programmable
via instructor inputs to simulate motion resulting from strong winds,
ascents and descents, and "battle" action.  For these kinds of
simulators, life- or limb-threatening hazards are not unknown.

--
Stanley Allen
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