Incorporation and Verification of Tunnel-in-the-Sky Guidance and Synthetic Vision in a Rotorcraft Flight Simulation Architecture

This paper will focus on the practical incorporation of “tunnel-in-the-sky” and synthetic vision concepts from a flight simulation software perspective. Piloted, rotorcraft flight simulation analysis of these concepts has been an on-going activity in the Boeing Flight Simulation Laboratory in Philadelphia. The theoretical basis and advantages in augmenting pilot situational awareness was well presented by Robert R. Wilkins [1]. In this paper, the technical issues involving design architecture, visual perception and verification of these concepts will be addressed. Some of these issues include architecture optimization for future enhancements, tunnel correlation and conformality with out-the-window terrain, validation of pilot visual cues and integration of tunnel and synthetic vision concepts. Future work and directions will also be discussed, for both tunnel symbology-based guidance and synthetic vision situational awareness, in the context of practical realization in a rotorcraft flight simulation environment.