An interactive graphics application to advanced aircraft design

摘要

Throughout the 50's, 60's and now the 70's, computer usage has continually been on the increase and, from all indications, this trend will continue in the future. Early computer application programs were run by "computer experts" with the engineers interfacing with the programmers to get their "batch" program run. With the advent of the remote access terminals a more efficient and direct interface to the computer was made available to the engineer-user. More recently the introduction of the storage tube and refreshed tube CRT's linked to computers has now provided the engineers with a graphic interface that is even more direct, and hopefully, more efficient. This introduction of computer-graphics resulted in a proliferation of graphics programs in the aerospace industry. Soon most of the analytically oriented specialities (e.g. Aero-dynamics, Structures, Loads, etc. ) were boasting of powerful graphics programs to assist them to more effectively perform their functions.