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Saturday, April 27, 2002, Jos Nieswaag and I went to Aviodome again, to
check the state of flight simulation here in the Netherlands. It was a
windy day, and we were met with some heavies departing off runway 24/06 as
we were driving down the A4 towards Schiphol.Inside the dome, it was crowded. Some old ladies and gents were visiting the museum (tell tale tourist bus parked outside) and I couldn't help but think what these people would think of all these guys (still not many ladies present) pretending to be pilots, and attempting to play up fictional in flight emergencies. Must be the same emotion I have when watching in horror when people sliver over miniature furniture or Harry Potter goodies: haven't you got anything worthwhile to do?
Anyway, it looked like nobody had left since I visited last year: NL2000
Development group to my left, DFSO in the main film area, some other clubs
on the other side, Luchtvaart Hobby Shop on the back side of the film
room, and some more clubs scattered everywhere, and last but not least a
Falcon club somewhere more remote.
The theme ATC and FS was presented by DFSO as usual (5th year running, I was told). Picture the following ingredients: a C17 Globemaster, the AF1 747, two de Havilland Beaver float planes, a Tomcat, a display team or two with smoke, some 767's, a C47, a coast guard patrol boat and some helicopters, special scenery for water takeoffs and landings, mix that with some flights to Honolulu, a Pearl Harbor air display, attended by the Prez and his guys (see him on the stairs?), an eruption of a volcano, a fast approaching storm which knocks out ILS, and you got yourself a recipe which puts some soaps to shame. We actually had a lady professional ATC bring in a 767 by GCA (Ground Controlled Approach?). The pilot landed the 767 with a strong side wind and about 200 feet ceiling, and received a well-deserved applause.
The whole presentation was well prepared and looked spectacular. The NL2000 team, like the beacons for the water landings, made some of the scenery.
However, some trends and new developments can be noted: a new Dutch
(Rotterdam based) company presented it's goodies today:
The RealCockpit.
These chaps have been developing a new range of cockpit building blocks in
the last three years, which will suit a lot of serious flyers, who have
been contemplating building their own cockpits. Some guys would like to
have such a cockpit, but don't have either the time, skills or the
patience to build it, but they would love to lay down some money for
someone else to do it. That time has now come. Have a look at their web
site, and you'll see what's to come. They are close to launching the
product line, but I could see it in action. They plan to offer components
for a full Cessna 172 cockpit, and other aircraft types may follow (fill
out their web form for that). I watched and tried out the cockpit mock-up
and must say, it sure looks and works great.Their set-up features a little program on your FS2002 (only) computer, which converts and feeds it through USB to their central controller unit. The 30 MHz Cypress 8051 family microprocessor is able to receive 40 updates per second, and feed this info to the distinct components. The controller board features header connectors for all types of devices, like meters and displays, but also input devices, like dual yokes, pedals and all other switches and controls. They only had their prototype controller board in the unit, because manufacturer delays, but all worked fine. The unit had a lot of resistors on it, which led me believe these are for the digital to analog (D/A) conversion. The production unit has D/A converters. According to a company spokesman, the theoretical resolution is 1024 steps, and most of the units use servos, like the ones used in R/C airplanes. Basically it means that a potentiometer is connected to the rotating shaft, and the motor keeps running until the potentiometer signal matches the analog value (actually it's done by pulse width, but you get the picture). So, the actual needle accuracy depends on the linearity of the potentiometer in the servo unit. The processor software will be able to be updated of course.
They had a see thru mock up with some major components working: airspeed,
artificial horizon, turn and slip, vertical speed, ILS. The altimeter
wasn't finished yet, and all motor and electrical instruments were not
connected. The units look very good. All the units are enclosed in black
cylindric plastic cases and sport a simple flat cable coming out of it.
The units function fine, no stuttering or delay was visible. I am most interested whether startup is simple, i.e. no resetting, or syncing between panel and simulator, but I was assured that the servo system takes care of that. I checked the values between screen and panel, and could not see any differences. What I did notice was that the Hobbs meter was a mockup, not a working Hobbs. I don't know whether the part is complete or whether it will be included later. This may be of interest for a lot of the buyers.
Prices are rather stiff: check the prices on the site, add them up and see whether they fit your budget. I can see a market for the products: aircraft owners wishing to practise out of season (some people only fly during the summer months) or situations that rarely occur in real life. Experience gained this way is priceless, because some things you just are not keen on trying in real life. Running costs for a plane are high as well (at least in Europe), so avoiding flight instruction up there is cost effective. Furthermore, the company is going to seek FAA certification, so flight schools will be in the market as well. And looking at it that way, the prices are reasonable. It still makes my pocket hurt though, but the spokesman told me that he hopes their market research proves correct, and economic forces bring prices down in time. But for now, the investment in matrices for injection moulding has been huge, and somehow this needs to be recovered.
I also met "Captain Slarty" at the TRC stand, who was discussing full motion platforms yokes and other stuff with the TRC guys.
I tried the E-D Glasses over at the Luchtvaart Hobby Shop and I must admit: these guys have a light weight device with good glasses that don't blink too obviously, and let through a lot of light. They also track your head movements well, and you get used to manipulating the panning of your virtual cockpit. But I still can't read the frequencies in virtual cockpit mode...
Some of the attendees: DFSO, NL2000 team, IVAO, and the other simulation web site... There was a Eurocontrol stand as well, with a ATC display.
That's it for me. I saw a lot of stuff today. I'm sure some other people will be covering this event, so keep your eyes peeled for more reports. Hope to see some more international visitors as well. So, get yourself on an Easyjet flight and spend the day during the next event, which will be on 13 / 14 October 2002. Our hobby is alive over here, and I won't be collecting Harry Potter stuff anytime soon!
Oh, yeah, the catering was horrible. C'mon guys, white buns with cheese only?
Comments can be sent to aviodome@nauta.xs4all.nl
