I think they did a pretty good job considering it was built in the late 50's/early 60's with slide rules.
Posted on 08/26/2006 6:41:10 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The flying days of the SR-71 Blackbird in the Antelope Valley are truly over, as one of the last vestiges of the aircraft's flight tenure in the Valley has departed. The only SR-71 simulator, housed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, has been shipped to an aviation museum in Dallas.
The simulator came to NASA when the flight test facility took control of three SR-71s when the aircraft were first retired from military service in 1989. Dryden used the aircraft for high-speed flight research, and NASA pilots trained on the simulator.
The one-of-a-kind system was developed in the 1970s and used to train the spy plane's crews at Beale Air Force Base. Shortly before the aircraft were retired from military service, the simulator went through extensive upgrades to replace the old analog computer system.
When the Air Force reinstated the SR-71s in 1995, Air Force crews came to Dryden to train on the simulator, after it was determined that there would be too much time and effort involved to reinstall the system elsewhere.
Dryden's two SR-71s - one was returned to the Air Force when the aircraft were reinstated - conducted research flights until 1999, when the aircraft were retired for good.
Since that time, the simulator has been sitting, unused, in 1,800 square feet of a Dryden hanger.
When it was determined that space was required for the relocation of the center's model shop, the search was on for a suitable museum to house and display the unique artifact.
NASA and the Air Force - who retained ownership of the article while on loan to NASA - realized that the simulator's historical value lay not only in the mock cockpits, but also in the now antiquated computer system used to operate it.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
The company is nearby and has pledged both monetary and technical support to get the simulator up and running with newer computers so visitors may see how it works and some may even try their own hands at the controls.
Holy cow.
If they can sell simulator time I can see this as the biggest money-making simulator of all time...
There go my plans to buy it. Shucks.
What do you bet that it runs on 16MB of RAM? [chuckle]
Gonna be tough to find the vacuum tubes....
(((PING)))
You laugh. Until three years ago, I programmed military flight simulators in FORTRAN/74.
When I saw that it was coming to Dallas I figured it would be the Frontiers of Flight Museum. This museum is getting better - http://www.flightmuseum.com/index.htm
I think they did a pretty good job considering it was built in the late 50's/early 60's with slide rules.
Built and used by nerdy 50's / 60's engineers like my Dad. He was in the oil bidness, not aerospace, but still the same kind of 'git er done' engineer skills and attitude that took us to the moon & back.
He & I built Heathkit TVs and radios together, I can remember many trips to the electronics store to check vacuum tubes on their tester! ;>)
My Dad was a rare breed of ME, started using Apple 2's when they came out, and used PCs to control process tests, long before anyone else in his company would even acknowledge the utility of 'personal computers'.
I think they did a pretty good job considering it was built in the late 50's/early 60's with slide rules.
more like 16KB of RAM...
ahhh... FORTRAN/74, the language of Men.
Will never forget the wrapping that the stuff came in: A battered cardboard box sealed with smileyface tape.
If you'd like to see an SR71 up-close and you're anywhere near Riverside, CA, visit the air museum at March ARB, off the 215 Fwy at Van Buren. Many, many examples of our combat planes since WW II.
Kelly Johnson was a very "frugal" person. Nice touch on the smiley face tape.
Great pics -- thanks!
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