US Air Force relies on computer graphics to evaluate combat aircraft performance

The use of computer graphics analysis and other powerful tools to evaluate jet aircraft performance at the US Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base in California, is described. As many as 14 test versions of the same aircraft model are instrumented with sophisticated sensors to allow flight-test data to be recorded on tape. The tape-recorded data points are used by flight-test engineers to review each aircraft´s actual in-flight performance. It was found that computer-generated graphic displays of complicated physical relationships make the job of interpreting aircraft performance data considerably less difficult. The use of interactive graphics to boost productivity is also discussed.<>