The Ingenieur Vol 59 July-Sept 2014 The Ingenieur Vo. 59, July-Sept 2014 | Page 71

A standard cockpit view of FlightGear
The highest level of flight
simulators are known as Full
Flight Simulators (FFS) which
are endorsed by the American
Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) and European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA). At
this level, a 6-DOF “Stewart
Platform” motion system is used
together with a fully specified
simulator cockpit as well a visual
system for the outside world or
Out-the-Window (OTW).
Malaysia’s Own Flight Dynamic
Model (FDM)
Among the brands at the
amateur simulator level are
Microsoft’s Flight Simulator and
X-Plane; before the former was
discontinued in 2012. Currently,

the most popular is FlightGear,
a free, multi-platform and open
source flight simulator, which
was developed as an alternative
to proprietary products. It is
supported by a large group of
enthusiasts who continue to
develop the engine. The open
source releases offer their own
Flight Dynamic Models (FDM).
In these the flight of an aircraft
is simulated by the programme
and, in addition, they contain a
set of different aircraft. Using
an external FDM and matching
it with full hardware, FlightGear
can also be upgraded for usage
in FAA or EASA-approved FFS.
The customisation features
in flight simulator games can
also be linked to engineering

education software. There are
existing aircraft design products
in the market; in particular
ADS, RDS and Surface. The
writers aim to offer a better
and
affordable
alternative
through the development of a
Malaysian solution. The key
for affordability is the creation
of our own FDM. Without our
own FDM, the solution will
not be widely available to the
public. At this moment, aircraft
flight dynamics at Malaysian
university level is taught and
learned
using
theoretical
methods. The writers; with
backgrounds in structural and
mechanical engineering as well
as CAD, software development
and aviation, are in the final
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