L-3 Link Simulation & Training UK

"The pilot feedback from the training has been excellent."

Ralph Baker, Director, European Operations, RSI-Visual Systems Inc.

L-3 Link Simulation & Training UK’s latest addition to its RealitySeven generation of civil aviation full task trainers, a Boeing 777, has now been fitted with a 12 Million pixel visual system, comprising of 3 x FL35 wqxga LED DLP projectors from projectiondesign and XT4 Image Generators from RSI-Visual Systems.

Concerned with the typical high maintenance costs related to the visual system of a simulator, L-3 Link UK requested the most cost effective visual system possible that would comply with the stringent full flight Level D requirements. Being a company committed in providing training devices and services that deliver the lowest total cost of ownership, ensuring the highest degrees of reliability, maintainability, supportability and scalability, the choice of DLP technology with LED, coupled with the RSI XT4 image generator, was the natural choice.

The visual system integration was carried out by RSI-Visual Systems, and Ralph Baker, Director European Operations explained: “In our experience we have FL35 projectors operating continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and after the initial calibration we’ve found after 9 months no depreciable drop in resolution, convergence or intensity light output.”

He further adds: “The benefits of using this technology are two fold; from a financial point of view operators will get the benefit of the fact that they are not changing lamps after 1000 hours, and they do not have to change optical blocks every two years. Therefore there is an immediate cost saving and cost benefit of operating LED DLP projectors. Also they require very little maintenance so in these days of shortage of skills, the DLP LED option is very much a cost saving.

“From the pilot training point of view, the pilots receive the same quality image on day one as they would see 9 months later. Therefore when pilots are doing current or conversion training they will see the same visual quality at all times. This has very big benefits of pilot training quality”, explains Baker.

The Boeing 777 flight simulator is fitted with a 200 x 45 degrees collimated display. The RSI XT4 image generator, which is capable of delivering 4 Million pixels per channel, coupled with the 2560x1600 pixels DLP LED projectors, allow for an increase of the vertical field of view to 45 degrees, which gives distinct benefits of pilot training particularly on circling approaches, as the extra 5 degrees field of view is at the lower portion of the screen.

Also benefitting from the projector’s smear reduction processing the pilots can read sign boards while turning on the ground at a farther distance than they would on other types of projectors.

“Customers that have bought this visual system with the RSI XT4 and the FL35 projectors have given us tremendous feedback to say that they are very impressed with the low cost of ownership and the pilot feedback from the training has been excellent”, concludes Baker.