(Virtual) chocks away

摘要

Flight simulators have been around for almost as long as powered aviation, dating back as far as 1910. One of the first devices was the Sanders Teacher, which was basically an aircraft mounted on a universal joint that faced into wind. Although it was somewhat unwieldy, it was able to respond to the aileron, elevator and rudder controls.rnAlthough these early simulators were not very successful, they quickly became sophisticated and were adopted for instrument training and the practice of system failures that were too dangerous to perform in the air. They eventually expanded into the consumer market and evolved over the years to become very complex and realistic.