New Airbus A320 simulator is first Level D system to use new FL35 wqxga design
Norway’s projectiondesign® is delighted to announce that British Airways (BA) has upgraded a fifth full-flight training simulator using the manufacturer’s latest ReaLED™ light-source projectors.
Following on from last year’s initial installation of a simulator based around the projectiondesign FL32 projector, this latest upgrade features projectiondesign’s FL35 wqxga – unveiled at the end of last year as the highest-resolution solid-state light-source projector available with its 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution.
Based on the established F35 DLP® platform, the FL35 combines an ultra-high resolution of 4.1 Megapixels with projectiondesign’s second-generation RealLED illumination technology. Like all RealLED devices, the FL35 promises 100,000 hours of typical service life combined with greater installation flexibility and reduced cost of ownership compared with conventionally illuminated designs.
Like projectiondesign’s previous BA simulators, the new system features three projectors in a design drawn up by the airline’s systems integration partner RSI Visual Systems. The projectors are integrated with the RSI XT4 Level ‘ D’ Image Generator and is used for showing ‘Out The Window’ (OTW) content, giving trainee pilots simulations of unprecedented realism in accordance with the Level D airline industry standards.
“Moving up from WUXGA to WQXGA gives a considerable increase in pixels per projector,” explains Jeff Everett, President, RSI Visual Systems. “This has the obvious advantage of offering a higher level of display fidelity. For example, it means that a pilot can read signage a greater distance away when they are taxiing around a virtual ‘airport’.
“We were also able to add another 5 degrees of view because of the extra pixels – giving us 45 degrees in the vertical as opposed to the standard 40 degrees. That has the benefit of increasing the field of view for trainees, which in turn helps to make the simulator more realistic.
“But it’s not just the number of pixels – it’s what you can do with them that’s important. And that’s where the RealLED technology really scores because calibration is so straightforward and dependable. The ability to maintain colour and brightness settings across multiple projectors over long periods of time, and without any maintenance required, is huge in our business – just huge!”
Located, like the earlier installations, at BA’s Heathrow Training Centre, the FL35s are integrated with RSI Visual System’s RASTER XT4 image-generator – one of the few systems of its kind that can drive projectors at WQXGA resolution with a single-channel output. The finished system is used to simulate the view from the cockpit of an Airbus A320 passenger airliner.
Mike Burtenshaw, General Manager, British Airways Flight Training, said: "The FL35 is providing our A320 simulator's visual systems with high levels of reliability, brightness and resolution. BA Flight Training constantly looks to invest in its flight simulators to continue to maintain the highest possible levels of pilot training standards."
Summing up for projectiondesign, Javier Delgado, the company’s Visual Simulation Manager, says: “This installation at Heathrow is the first Level D simulator anywhere in the world to use our FL35 projectors. The feedback we have had from both the integrator and BA themselves has been excellent, confirming our belief that the FL35 is capable of changing the way the airline industry looks at projection. With the use of our technology, the installation benefits from from low maintenance, consistent imaging and a predictable cost of ownership.
“Our relationship with RSI Visual Systems continues to blossom. They have now decided to standardise on projectiondesign and we are looking forward to supplying RealLED projectors to them for many more simulator projects in the future. The company already has six more systems in the design stage as we speak!”
