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>>Flashing across California desert skies, the airplanes you see

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here are writing new chapters in the story
of man made flight....there she goes!

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>>This is my first opportunity
to greet you as deputy administrator

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of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.

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>>Together, you and I must make our new agency

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>>A most unusual place

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>>An organization that can challenge
conventional wisdom.

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>>We can engineer anything we can write the requirements for.

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>>We're going to make your idea work.

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This particular idea is quite disruptive.

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>>A typical flight, of course, starts
under the wing of the B-52 mothership.

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>>This sleek, high speed machine
would have made Rube Goldberg proud.

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>>The manner in which we fly
reentry from space,

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on the space shuttle was
pioneered on the X-15.

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>>The X-31 pretty much wrote the book on thurst vectoring, along with its sister program, the F-18 HARV.

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>>An observation of an occulation is

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one of the more challenging
missions that SOFIA can do.

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[Music/Background sound]

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>>Right now, we are looking
at the dawn of a new era of aviation.

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[Music/Background sound]

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[Music]

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>>The secret to our
business is to be as prepared as possible,

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and we find simulators a very useful tool.

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>>Flight simulators have been used at Dryden
since the X series.

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They allow researchers to investigate
hundreds of variations

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before committing an airplane
to flight.

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...program actual missions and simulate
every conceivable in-flight problem

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the pilot might expect to face.

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>>The largest and most complex
analog simulation

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ever constructed at the time; it was used
in the design of the research programs,

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flight planning, system development,

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and of course, as a pilot training aide.

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>>I think almost every flight had
something happened to it

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that maybe was not according
to the flight plan, but had been practiced

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because the pilot spent anywhere
from 10 to 50 hours in the simulator for a flight.

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>>...3 or 4 hours
in the simulator a week.

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>>...200 to 250 hours of simulator time
flying this exact mission.

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So I was extremely well prepared.

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>>...by the time of first flight,

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many potential problems
have been identified and solutions

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developed.

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>>In the case of the space
shuttle, the flight simulator

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is more important than ever before
because the shuttle is such a complex

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machine- flies in such a wide range
of atmospheric conditions

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and at Mach 25 travels much faster
than any plane has done before.

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>>Simulation is essential to developing
the X-29 flight control system.

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This fixed base simulator is wired
directly to the aircraft's

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three flight control computers.

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These in
turn are wired to attitude sensors

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and to a simulated X-29 hydraulic system.

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>>This is the X-59 simulator...

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...we did a lot of design trade studies on features

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that we think we'd want in the airplane
or not want in the airplane...

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>>This is going to be exactly
like the inside of the actual aircraft.

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Instead of having to read all the labels,
or read all the switches,

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they will have their muscle memory
trained.

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>>We're using it to do some development
and analyze

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some of the new flight control software
that's come down...

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Eventually we'll also use it for training.

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>>We provide projects,

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the ability to make informed decisions
and the ability to manage risk.

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>>Those who own the simulation
own the program.

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>>In '54, there were a number of engineers out here
who took advantage of the first

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electronic ground simulator...

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...to mimic

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a reaction control system and mimic
an airplane,

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leaving the Earth's atmosphere.

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>>Practice landings using predetermined

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settings that can simulate the low
lift/drag ratio of the X-15...

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...nothing is left to chance.

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>>The Lunar Landing Research
Vehicle was the only free-flying

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airborne simulator for the final seconds
of the lunar descent.

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This simulator provided

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the early Apollo astronauts
with a calibration of time and distance.

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>>In fact, Neil Armstrong came back a year
or so after he landed on the moon and said

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because of the training that he received
on the LLTVs and the LLRV

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he was able to make his maneuver
the last 20 or 30 feet.

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>>We also had the shuttle training aircraft.
Thrust reversers were used to hold

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the airplane back so we could dive

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at the steep angles that we were planning
to fly the orbiter at.

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>>The Calspan TIFS in flight simulator...

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>>...a modified Convair aircraft
configured with two different cockpits,

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and it's kind of a dial of plane aircraft,
a variable stability

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aircraft that can be made to simulate
the characteristics of any other airplane.

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We also utilized our F-8 Fly-By-Wire aircraft to simulate

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some of the characteristics
of the shuttle flight control system.

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>>GPAS, General Purpose Airborne Simulator...

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>>...which was a JetStar that was modified

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to do variable stability.

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[Music]

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>>In addition

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to simulating the aircraft
flying here in our airspace,

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we also have the ability to take
our sim lab and connect it

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as a component of a larger
live, virtual, constructive environment

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like we do with flying unmanned vehicles.

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UAS in the NAS type projects.

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>>...both simulated aircraft and then a live intruder aircraft...

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...virtual or simulated encounters...

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>>Fused Reality is a new technology

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for simulation.

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>>Things that simulators
aren't good at modeling is real air.

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What you gain here
is taking a simulator into the air

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and you're actually exposed
to the flying environment;

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taking that simulator
and visually kind of superimposing

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that on top of...

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>>...being able
to put other aircraft that aren't

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actually there in your field of view
and make you feel like you're actually

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flying in formation.

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>>That's a new thing. That's good