Design of the DLR AVES Research Flight Simulator

Abstract

The German Aerospace Centre DLR in Braunschweig has developed a reconfigurable flight simulator for research into rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft behavior – the AVES (Air VEhicle Simulator). This new simulator features a common motion platform and interchangeable roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cockpits enabling rapid turnaround of research activities. Additionally, the cockpits may be used in a fixed-base mode with a separate visual display system. Particular emphasis was placed on achieving high motion and visual cueing performance in this flight simulator, while maintaining the flexibility. The justification for the design, the challenges in its realization, the specific testing procedures, and the applications of the simulation facility will be described in this paper.