††††The flight simulator is a device used to train pilots to fly new types of aircraft and to practise general flying skills, including what to do in emergencies, without leaving the ground. The pilots of military aircraft can practise their battle skills in safety. In many ways, flight simulators are rather like giant computer games.
The first flight simulators were used in the 1930s. They were used to train pilots in the use of some instruments and some flying procedures. In the late 1940s, the first electronic simulators were developed.
Modern flight simulators use high speed digital computers to handle the vast amounts of information that must be fed to the pilot. Each simulator has the same flight deck as a particular type of aircraft, with all the usual controls. Scenes of real airports around the world are made by the computers and projected onto a screen outside the cockpit window. This lets pilots practise landing and taking off in all conditions. Aircraft sounds are fed through loudspeakers inside the simulator.
