ETC’s ATS develops simulated aircraft carrier landings for its ATFS-400 Phoenix
Southampton, PA, January 18, 2011 — Raising the bar another notch in aircraft simulation capabilities, the Aircrew Training Systems Business Unit of Environmental Tectonics Corporation is now making available for their ATFS-400 Phoenix, Aircraft Carrier Landing training. Aircraft Carrier Take-Offs and Landings prove to be extremely challenging because of the need to learn take-off and landing procedures on a moving target with a short runway. As a result, Aircraft Carrier landings require experience and skill beyond the normal aircraft landing skill set. Until now, the only real way to practice this critical skill has been to do it on land in less than optimal conditions.
ETC’s latest training profile allows pilots to practice this important skill within the confines of its ATFS-400 Phoenix training system. The effort is the result of enormous testing. Software Engineers spent hours researching the process of landing on an aircraft carrier. They studied the series of events that make up aircraft carrier take-offs and landings and their associated Gx values. They developed the software, iteratively improved it and combined it with the ATFS-400 Phoenix high fidelity motion system, making it the most comprehensive aircraft training available today. The end result is safe and cost effective. The completed effort marks the ongoing research and collaboration of ETC’s three main software development entities in Poland, Turkey and the United States.
Thus far the effort has been well received by test pilots. They receive precise instructions from the instructor as they go through the process. What pilots feel during the experience are the Gx motion cues not normally felt in a flight profile but definitely present in an aircraft carrier profile. While the software is presently being used, Caglar Unlu, Software Engineer in Southampton, PA, USA enthusiastically adds, “We’re not done with this. The profile is constantly being improved as we continue our search for perfection. We are extremely pleased; however, with how well the pilots have responded to our efforts.”
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