Image right: Generic Flight Deck Simulator (Inside View)

The Generic Flight Deck (GFD) Simulator is an advanced all-glass generic simulator, which can be used to represent a wide range of vehicle types including advanced transports, such as the High Speed Civil Transport and Blended Wing Body Aircraft, and spacecraft, such as the HL-20, CEV and Planetary Lander. The simulator is driven by the appropriate vehicle dynamics mathematical model for the class of vehicle under study. The cockpit includes four large liquid crystal display (LCD) units mounted on the main instrument panel (on which primary flight information, navigation/map information, engine information and other specified system parameters are displayed) and three LCD units mounted in the overhead panel. There is a center aisle stand, which also contains two LCD units, mounted between the two pilots. The LCD units are equipped with touch panel overlays. The cockpit is designed such that different types of control inceptors can be utilized depending on the particular research being conducted. Presently, each pilot position can be configured to have one of three types of control inceptors: (1) Column/wheel/rudders, (2) Side stick/rudders, and (3) Center stick/rudders. The cockpit’s visual system is also flexible and can be configured in two different ways: (1) Four collimated window systems (two forward and two side units), and (2) Two direct view forward windows and two collimated side windows. The visual system is driven by a state-of-the-art computer generated image system.