The objective of the Boeing Helicopter Flight Simulator project is to produce a fully integrated and interactive simulator for accurately reproducing the flight and control characteristics of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for use at the Penn State Rotorcraft Center.
The main goals for this project are as follows: Implementation of the flight data model created by Dooyong Lee A realistic visual model of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter Terrain portion of the simulator must incorporate a water vessel on which the helicopter can land Must support multiple displays (minimal 2) so that the pilot can receive visual information from multiple points simultaneously Full implementation of hardware which includes a flightstick, collective, anti-torque pedals, and seat
The main design decision was to use FlightGear (link at left) as the foundation for this entire simulator. This software allows for all the above goals to be met and indeed all the above goals were met. Also, if desired in the future, these requirements can be changed and reimplemented easily within FlightGear such as adding further terrain objects or a different helicopter model/visual. The monitor support is embedded within FlightGear and allows for as many different views as is needed. In the screenshot above, the helicopter visual model can be seen from behind. The water vessels can be see directly below the helicopter and can be used to land on. This image was taken from within FlightGear. In the next image the hardware can be seen in it's entirety.
