The School of Engineering at The University of Dayton move entire simulation suite to new location
The simulation suite at the University of Dayton, Ohio, comprising an MP521, an MP500-1 and an Air Traffic Control Station has been moved to a brand new room in the Engineering Building, Kettering Labs, on Campus. Dr. Aaron Altman said 'Before the simulator install was even complete, Air Vehicle Design Course students were attempting to get their individual designs flying in the simulators. Planes ranging from a pylon racer, to a light sport amphibian and a supersonic business jet were being tested before the installation was completed. In addition, end of semester projects will soon begin in the Flight Dynamics Course - the students in that class are looking forward to getting back into the simulator and using it in its new convenient location.'
"The greatest part about this whole experience is how the simulator is designed. I can simply input this plane that until this point was simply just numbers from equations. From there I was able to have an aircraft that is solely my design, function. One reason that I have moved from the aerospace application is that so much of that is done is not tangible. If you somehow get a design job in aerospace (after 20 years in the job force and a handful of luck) the likelihood that your design will be tangible is slim. Since it takes so much research and investigation in aerospace most designs do not make it. I know that the months of work I have put into this plane will never leave the computer screen. Yet, a program like this in which I can actually test my design makes a huge difference. There is no way that this plane could be built, the university can't afford to prototype it, can't afford to test it, and the likelihood that this will happen is slim. Yet, to be able to test the plane in the simulator, see and feel how it performs is a great thing. I love the fact that I was able to put my plane in and it pitched down. I knew it would pitch down, I expected it to since I knew that would be a problem when designing it. But the fact that I was able to see that, the problem I was unsure to fix, I could simply see the results while in flight made this experience so much greater. I was then able to augment my plane on the spot, reinitialize and run it. That is truly awesome."
Josh Nieman, UD student
Josh Nieman