a-next-generation-flight-simulator-using-virtual-reality-for-aircraft-design-work-in-progress

Paper ID #30083 A Next Generation Flight Simulator Using Virtual Reality for Aircraft Design (Work in Progress) Dr Dominic M Halsmer P.E., Oral Roberts University Dr Dominic M Halsmer is a Professor of Engineering and former Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Oral Roberts University He has been teaching science and engineering courses there for 28 years, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Oklahoma He received BS and MS Degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1985 and 1986, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 1992 He received an MA Degree in Biblical Literature from Oral Roberts University in 2013 His current research interests involve virtual reality flight simulation, the integration of faith and learning, contributions from the field of engineering to the current science/theology discussion, reverse engineering of complex natural systems, and the preparation of scientists and engineers for missions work within technical communities c American Society for Engineering Education, 2020 A Next Generation Flight Simulator Using Virtual Reality for Aircraft Design (Work in Progress) ABSTRACT A multidisciplinary team of five engineering students in the undergraduate program of Oral Roberts University is continuing the development of a fully functional flight simulator to assist in the design of original aircraft Through faculty and staff guidance and a plethora of data from the previous team's endeavors, much progress is expected by April 2020 The ultimate goal of this project is to develop an innovative approach to deepen the understanding of aircraft design through the use of the flight simulator With this technology, students can produce realistic motions of flight through virtual reality and six degrees of freedom of a Stewart platform with revolute joints The flight simulator provides a state-of-the-art learning tool for students Linking the HTC vive virtual reality headset to the mechanical part of the system provides an exciting learning experience However, improvements have been made to the previous team’s original design Bigger motors that have been installed on the Stewart platform provide a larger torque for a better experience and also help with carrying the weight of the user sitting in the flight simulator chair Modern engineering tools shows how various engineering skills and software are used in coordination to create a functioning system This gives prospective college students a good perspective on what engineering entails At the same time, aircraft design students can make use of the flight simulator to mimic projects they might encounter in their professional careers Full-size industry flight simulators are very expensive to build and operate Our smaller flight simulator is less expensive, giving more opportunity for virtual reality flight simulation As part of a growing engineering department, Oral Roberts University offers an aircraft design class The flight simulator will enable students to practically test their theoretical predictions and make necessary adjustments The advantage is that students can then make more than one virtual aircraft and analyze the differences and similarities to get a better idea of what factors are most important in aircraft design Students can also experiment with random variables to see what effect they will have on the flight simulation PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT In the fall of 2017, a multidisciplinary team of six undergraduate engineering students (with mechanical and electrical concentrations) at Oral Roberts University began an ambitious project to develop the prototype of a Stewart-platform-based single-seat virtual reality aircraft flight simulator to assist in custom aircraft design and promote the excitement of an engineering career among pre-college students in the local area With the support of an intramural grant through the President’s Research Fund from Oral Roberts University, the students’ efforts continued over the 2017-2018 academic year in the form of a successful senior capstone research and design project, which is required for students majoring in engineering from this university By the spring of 2018, the prototype was able to simulate the motion of unique aircraft based on control inputs initiated by the user/pilot in the seat wearing a Vive headset for visual simulation of the flight experience.1 However, the success of the resulting simulator was somewhat limited because the six motors used to drive the motion were not powerful enough to execute all of the necessary dynamics without sustaining damage to these motors Toward the end of their project, the team decided that more powerful motors were needed, and inquiry was made for additional funding Adequate additional funds for mew motors was approved and received from the President’s Research Fund during the summer of 2018, but by this time, the original team members had graduated However, installation of the new motors was taken on by the engineering students in the spring 2019 section of ME 450 Aircraft Design The new motors were researched, procured, and installed on the Stewart platform during the spring of 2019 However, testing of the larger motors by these students was severely limited due to the moving of the new School of Engineering to new facilities (including all new laboratories) during the summer of 2019 Besides the changing of student team members from the original group, this move brought additional challenges to the project since the simulator and all the associated equipment had to be disassembled and boxed up for the relocation to the new lab space But the move has recently been completed, and now a new multidisciplinary team of five undergraduate engineering students (three mechanicals and two electricals) has made the completion of the simulator their senior capstone research and design project They started in the fall of 2019 and anticipate completion by the end of the spring semester of 2020, when they plan to demonstrate a fully functional flight simulator The simulator can then be incorporated into ME 450 Aircraft Design during the 2020-2021 academic year In this course, engineering students will get immediate flight test feedback on their original aircraft designs by modeling their designs in XPlanes Plane Maker and then enjoying a “flight experience” using the virtual reality flight simulator They can then use this flight performance feedback to make appropriate changes to their aircraft designs Multiple iterations of this type should allow the students to refine their aircraft designs to a higher level than was previously possible Other universities are also making use of flight testing to assist in the teaching of concepts in aircraft design Students at the University of Florida enjoy a course in Flight Test Engineering where they conduct a series of flight test experiments involving an original design project This project includes the generation of written technical documents and drawings and the presentation of oral reports to the Federal Aviation Administration to receive approval for installation of their equipment in an actual aircraft.2 Engineering students in a flight test engineering course at the U.S Naval Academy collected aircraft performance data in both actual aircraft and a flight simulator Concepts in aircraft design were illuminated by the use of handheld and standard onboard instrumentation.3 At Tuskegee University, virtual flight tests were found to be an effective pedagogical approach In this setting, engineering students conducted virtual flight tests, using flight simulator software, to determine various parameters of an aircraft, and compare their experimental results with the theory The students worked in teams consisting of a flight test director, flight test pilot, and flight test engineer to plan, fly and collect data to estimate factors such as the location of the neutral point of the aircraft.4 This parameter, and others like it, are indispensable when undertaking the complex and creative process of aircraft design In a comprehensive article entitled, “Trends in Simulation Technologies for Aircraft Design,” an Engineer-in-the-Loop Simulator (ELS) is found to be effective, and the author concludes that “optimization techniques can be combined successfully with modeling and simulation to improve the quality and efficacy of the [aircraft] design.”5 These concepts are important features in this project since undergraduate engineering students in future courses will be designing custom aircraft and then “closing the loop” by virtually piloting the aircraft to test their designs The aircraft modeling and simulation software/hardware will then allow them to optimize their designs as they make informed decisions about design enhancements and assess the resulting flight performance INTRODUCTION As Virtual Reality (VR) and simulation technology is growing and being used in multiple real-life situations it is essential that the academic system keeps up with the trend Some of the technology is very expensive and rare but scaling it down enables academic institutions to provide basic knowledge on innovative concepts Students benefit from the hands-on approach and may even come up with ideas that will revolutionize the academic system as well as industry A team of five engineering students at Oral Roberts University is continuing development of a virtual reality flight motion simulator that will be used in an aircraft design class and displayed in the VR educational building at Oral Roberts University The idea of the virtual flight motion simulator is to combine a Stewart platform, virtual reality and flight simulator software The Stewart platform has already been modelled but the current group has developed additions to make the platform better Virtual reality equipment and computer software have already been purchased but the setup has not been completed Conceptually, multiple software is combined to work as a single system Computer software used includes X-plane 11, FlyInside, SMC3, and MATLAB Simulink SMC3 uses an Arduino board coded in Java to send commands to the motors and get feedback of their response SMC3 is useful as it combined two motors to work as a unit, then syncs the three sets to facilitate the flight motion simulator to experience all six degrees of freedom The HTC Vive headset is used to play X-plane 11 which is being run on Steam Using Steam is convenient because it already supports virtual reality and specifically the HTC Vive Another advantage is that Steam is compatible with FlyInside which is the software used to improve graphics quality and provides the link between X-plane 11 and the mechanical part of the flight motion simulator For the aircraft design class, students use Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders6 and Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach7, both by Dr Daniel P Raymer to design custom aircraft These texts have a lot of complex and time-consuming calculations which will be lessened by using X-plane 11 because X-plane 11 automatically calculates some of the parameters However, both the texts and X-plane 11 list fuselage design, wing design, airfoil design, engine selection and landing gear design as the major concepts of aircraft design Utilizing the texts and X-plane 11, students can experiment with design enhancements and push limits to see how different designs affect flight Students save a lot of time on calculations which enables then to work on more designs and learn more Since aircraft design students will use the flight simulator, they will know first-hand whether their design works, and also evaluate flight performance X-plane 11 is interactive and offers tips on building planes which makes the aircraft design class student-friendly The simulator also enables non-engineering students to experiment with flying since they will not need to know all the engineering concepts covered in aircraft design Virtual reality is being used in many industries, so the group decided to utilize its power for educational purposes An HTC Vive headset is the preferred choice but other options such as the Oculus Rift and the Valve Index can also be used The Oculus Rift has lower quality than the Vive and the Valve Index is currently out of stock Also, Oral Roberts University offered an HTC Vive to use for the project The flight motion simulator will be set up in the VR educational room of the Global Learning Center at Oral Roberts University Students and prospective students can tour the room and fly the simulator The experience will draw students towards the school and most importantly towards engineering It also provides motivation for engineering students to experiment and use their imagination Full size flight motion simulators cost hundreds of thousands of dollars However, the flight motion simulator being developed at Oral Roberts University has a projected cost of $13,394 dollars The amount includes all the direct expenses for building the flight motion simulator, as detailed in the following tables Table 1: Actual Mechanical Summary Costs Product Original Estimate Actual Amount 24V Motors Transmotec WHD123224-24-40 $600 $7450 Gearboxes $900 $1000 Heim Joints $360 $362 Aluminum for Upper Platform $300 $408 Steel for Base and Legs $500 $322 Fasteners: Bolts, Nuts, and Spacers $300 $250 Wood for Armrests N/A $35 Seat Belt N/A $60 Total Cost of Mechanical Components: $9,887 Table 2: Actual Electrical Summary Costs Product Cost/Unit Qty Total Power Supply Unit $145 $870 Arduino UNO $15 $45 Sabertooth Motor Drive $190 $570 100A 5-Pin Relay $2 10 $20 60A Fuse Breaker $14 $42 Accelerometer/Gyroscope $25 $25 100A Stud Diodes $20 $120 Precision Potentiometer $9 12 $108 Nucleo Microcontroller $14 $14 Cables & Hubs (Power, USB) $86 N/A $86 Misc Electrical Equipment (connectors, etc.) $30 N/A $30 Total Cost of Electrical Components: $1,930 Table 3: Software Costs Product Cost Qty Total X-Plane11 $60 $60 SimTools $60 $60 FlyInside $60 $60 Total Cost of Software Components: $180 Table 4: Additional Costs Product Cost Qty Total HTC Vive $600 $600 Simulator Chair $90 $90 Various Shipping Charges $150 $150 ASEE Conference Registration $467 N/A $467 ASEE Posters $90 N/A $90 Total Cost of Additional Components: $1,397 Table 5: Final Cost Summary Division Actual Cost Mechanical $9,887 Electrical $1,930 Software $180 Additional $1,397 Total Cost: $13,394 Labor costs are not included since this project is being developed for educational purposes However, the engineering hours would cost $65,000 at $25 per hour working eight hours a day for five days each week Unexpected expenses are considered in the $13,394 projected cost of the project The planning process and allocation of resources lets students apply lessons from engineering economics Part of the engineering industry is finding ways to make useful products for an inexpensive price As students and other users learn how the flight motion simulator was built, they realize that engineering is more than putting together components, but it is also about meticulous planning and financial wisdom Furthermore, students realize how they can maximize available resources to come up with a working system that can mimic a full-scale aircraft Thus, the flight motion simulator will be educational in many ways NEUTRAL BOUYANCY SYSTEM One key element of the enhanced design is a neutral buoyancy system to support the chair in which the user/pilot will be sitting This idea is still in the experimentation stage of trying to design and construct a spring-based system but the team is working hard to complete this task A coil spring is planned for the buoyancy system A spring addition will help with keeping the chair steady, keeping the chair above the base of the system, helping the user have a better experience running a simulation, and relieving some stress on the motors and metal arms Springs are often used in many different types of chairs to help stabilize the weight being put on it from the user This year’s team believes this will be a great addition to the simulator in making it the best experience possible for the user A machine design textbook is being used by the mechanical engineers to help guide them through the process of creating this neutral buoyancy system The text is Mechanical Engineering Design by Richard Budynas and J Keith Nisbett.8 In chapter ten of this text it talks about mechanical springs From this chapter the team is gathering information on what design, material, and size of the spring should be used in order to hold the average user’s weight and function to maximum capability when undergoing stress-inducing compressions Several factors are important to study when designing a spring system as shown in this text The first step is to choose a type of end for the spring Studying the text, the best option for a spring design is one with squared and ground ends This design allows the best transfer of loads to be obtained The second step is to decide on a material to be used for the spring The best option for a spring of strength the team is needing is a spring made of Chrome-vanadium material This type of spring is good for handling high stresses and having long endurance for loadings which the team will need with all the people getting on and off the simulator system, in addition to all the hours of dynamic motion during flight simulations Figure 1: Squared and ground ends for spring Table 6: Squared and Ground Formulas for Dimensional Characteristics End Coils, 𝑁𝑒 Total Coils, 𝑁𝑡 Free Length, 𝐿𝑂 Solid Length, 𝐿𝑠 Pitch, p 𝑁𝑎 + p𝑁𝑎 + 2𝑑 d𝑁𝑡 (𝐿𝑂 − 2𝑑)/𝑁𝑎 Next the team performed several calculations to determine the sizing of the spring that will be needed in the material and styles chosen The max shear stress in the wire, the deflection, stability, tensile strength, shear yield strength, and the max force it can handle all need to be calculated and tested The mean diameter of the coil, the wire diameter, and force that will be applied to the spring will help in determining these parameters Table 10-4 of Mechanical Engineering Design gives the allowable diameters of wire and values of strengths for the material chosen for the spring The value chosen for the wire diameter of chrome-vanadium wire was d = 0.437 inches (A = 169 ksi and m = 0.167) The mean coil diameter chosen for the spring was D = 7.5 inches Following the equations below will give the results shown with these chosen values and a maximum load of F = 300 lb Sut = A / dm = 194 ksi (Equation 1: Tensile strength) Ssy = 0.45 Sut = 87.3 ksi (Equation 2: Yield strength) (Equation 3: Max shear stress) 𝜏= 8(300𝑙𝑏)(7,5𝑖𝑛) 𝜋(𝑜.437)^3 + 4(300𝑙𝑏) 𝜋(0.437)^2 = 70.6 ksi This provides a factor of safety of 87.3/70.6 = 1.24, which should be adequate since in dynamic situations, the motors will also be assisting in supporting the load With these equations the different characteristics of the spring chosen are determined These values found are important in understanding the strength and safety of the spring to be used The neutral buoyancy system based on this spring will ensure a steady smooth process of the simulator absorbing the fluctuating load of the user while in motion This new design of a neutral buoyancy system added by the team will continue to be tested and calculated so that the best possible system can be created for the user to have the ultimate learning experience in flight simulation FIXING THE POTENTIOMETERS AND MOTOR COLLARS Since accepting the project of designing an aircraft simulator, the senior project group has done many things Before we started, we split into subsections of mechanical and computer/electrical engineering The goal of the mechanical engineers is to hands on work with the project, as well as theoretical calculations The first thing that was done was welding together of the collars for the attachment of the motors to the lower arms of the Stewart platform This was vital because these welds will be experiencing the most force on the platform, and they directly translate power from the motors to the platform A Finite Element Analysis to determine the maximum stress in these members is under consideration Another component that has been worked on is the potentiometers The potentiometers are supposed to have some movement but not full 360 degrees of motion The entire potentiometer is not supposed to fully rotate, only the top shaft When realizing this, we decided that some sort of metal bracket was needed to go over the potentiometer to protect it from moving The first step was to measure out the dimensions of the holes on top of the motor so that we can eventually fabricate pieces of sheet metal to secure them in place The basic idea of the design is to secure the sheet metal to the motor with screws, so that it can bend down and surround the shaft of the potentiometer while another screw on the potentiometer will secure the bottom piece of sheet metal in place The dimension of the length and width of the platform on the motors where obtained Next to be measured were the diameters of the holes on the motor along with their exact orientation on the platform The specifications of the potentiometer were noted in correlation to the distance from the motor platform We made a few rough sketches, then modeled the sheet metal on SolidWorks (See Figure below) After that, we drew out the design on a piece of sheet metal and will replicate that design for all six motors This design with sheet metal worked out well, obviating the need to come up with an alternate design Figure 2: SolidWorks Model of Potentiometer Brackets The next step after designing is testing, so the group can properly get the flight simulator completed We were able to test the potentiometers, but we realized by seeing them and testing on the computer that half of the potentiometers were not working or not reading properly through the computer Some of them provided false reads because the wiring was not properly soldered on the potentiometer It could be that they were damaged during the move to the new laboratory facilities To be safe, we ordered all new potentiometers, so we could replace all of them instead of half For the Arduino to read them, we need to take off the old ones and reassemble the new ones and correctly solder all the wires together Once this is done, we should be able to complete our testing Some other mechanical modifications to the simulator also had to be conducted The collars to bolt the arms of the Stewart platform to the motors needed to be changed so they fit the larger motors A larger key had to be welded on the collar using a MIG welder This was done for all six motors and they were recently installed They then will connect to the arms so a direct translation of movement can be effectively and precisely executed These translations will come through the input of the user/pilot through the joystick via the VR computer programming Components that will experience the most amount of stress have already been modeled through SolidWorks thus the right metals and materials have been chosen, although a Finite Element Analysis is still to be conducted, as mentioned above The main mechanical task was modifying these collars along with assembly of the final simulator This will be done once the motor and VR testing is complete Potentiometer brackets for the motors have also been fabricated and fitted so that an accurate reading and response of the motors can be read through the computer The potentiometers are important because they stop sporadic or over rotation of the motors POWER AND CONTROL CONSIDERATIONS To operate the motors, power comes from the wall outlet and it is converted to DC The AC/DC Converter outputs 12 V each Relays are employed to make sure the power does not go back into the converter There is also a 60 Amp Switch that would slam shut if the current exceeds this value Sabertooth is used to power and control the motors Red wires (positive) give power to the Sabertooth while blue wires give power to the motors The speed of the motors is determined by the amount of current that runs into them The Sabertooth uses serial communication from the Arduino microcontroller to operate each motor, which is controlled by a program Potentiometers are also connected to the Arduino which sends feedback information on where the motors are because the potentiometer turns with the motor The potentiometers only turn 330 degrees however The motors need to be held at midway to sync with the potentiometers The motors are connected to the Sabertooth via relay switches which are used to shut off the power if the motors malfunction Figure shows the Master Electrical Schematic Figure 3: Master Electrical Schematic for the VR Flight Simulator There is a high current going through one part of the relay and a low current going through another part The relay can be used to switch current streams if necessary All the relays can be turned off by a kill switch located in the back of the simulator Extra wires connected to the Sabertooth direct the current to the batteries to further prevent current from re-entering the converter The batteries are used as a secondary power source Three of the main software components that will be used are Sim Tools, SMC3 (Simulator Motion Control for Motors) and Arduino IDE SMC3 is used to synchronize the motors with their feedback from the potentiometers It uses a PID (Proportional – Integral – Derivative) Loop to get the motors to operate at the desired speed Using the correct Kp, Ki and Kd values, minimal overshoot can be achieved for the performance response of the motors Figures and below show a SolidWorks model and a photograph of the simulator Figure 4: SolidWorks Model of the Stewart Platform for the Custom VR Flight Simulator Figure 5: Photograph Showing Status of Stewart Platform Fabrication STUDENT FEEDBACK OF LESSONS LEARNED The following comments were received from student team members who worked on the simulator as their senior capstone design project during the 2019-2020 academic year They are presented in no particular order Student #1: One thing that I have learned more about during this project is the importance of teamwork In order to make the progress that we have done, teamwork was needed Although the group is divided between mechanical and electrical engineers, we all had to learn to work together as sub groups and incorporate our knowledge to make progress in our senior design project as one group Even though we have not finished our project yet and having the coronavirus became an obstacle, we are still able to come together as a group with technology Having everyone on different pages would have made progress a lot slower because each individual would have a different idea on how to get the senior design project done I believe it is good to have different ideas, but when the ideas are not put together, then chaos forms Overall, the group has learned to come together and the best that we can with this project Student #2: This project helped my experience as an engineer and as a student in moving forward in my studies One thing I learned from this project is getting a feel for how system engineers work together in the field Working with both electrical and mechanical engineers taught me how a project might go in the work force and how to communicate solutions and problems in a project In the work force as an engineer I will need to be coordinating with several other engineers to get projects done, and this project has prepared me for this This project has also taught me to how to use creative thinking and to take initiative in getting tasks done Along with learning how machines work and what tools to use I was able to be a valuable asset to the team I was on Working on this project as a group was very important not only to my education but also to what my future holds as an engineer Student #3: The first thing that I learned from this experience is the importance of leadership and the necessity for structure and scheduling It was difficult at first to meet at the beginning of each semester and to allocate tasks to each other but eventually we were able to rearrange our schedules to allow for the necessary collaboration to finish this project We were also able to fully incorporate tasks as time passed as we were able to witness the varying interests and areas of expertise of all the members of this group The next thing that I learned from this experience was the incorporation of topics from other classes Although I was mainly tasked with trying to operate the system, I did use topics from Control Systems (System Response) and Electronics (Switches, Diodes and AC/DC Converters) to increase my understanding of the simulator’s operation The third thing that I learned was how to consult the advice and assistance from available experts Throughout this project, I enlisted the help of professor, technicians, faculty and administrators to assist in the completion and assembly of this simulator The final thing that I learned was how to present Delivery, expression of the correct concepts, and coordination with the speeches of fellow group members is vital to having a great presentation In conclusion, the main things that I learned were the importance of leadership, the incorporation of college courses, the importance of assistance and the ability to present Student #4: For me, the biggest aspect that I learned was how to work with my team to solve problems in areas that I did not understand The flight simulator is a very electrical biased project, so developing the ability to understand and aid my fellow electrical engineers along with the mechanical side was the biggest challenge of this project I have learned so much about the flight simulator since beginning the project, and simply learning what the past years groups have left us with is critical to make any progress As our team worked on the simulator more, a better understanding of the simulator subsystems was established I further learned about the motion of the simulator and began to correlate my understanding of the theories learned in my statics and dynamics classes Finding the right materials and components for a fluid and realistic simulator is just as important as the design itself That is why software simulations are so important not only for the simulator but for engineering in general Finding concrete evidence of a successful design saves lives and saves money Pinpointing weak points and fixing the issues before the fabrication of the final product are very important For the simulator, our group started with a partially completed simulator which is why any changes to the design were so difficult This forced our group to think outside the box and put all our minds and engineering skills to the test Student #5: Although, not exactly the way full size flight motion simulators are made, our prototype provides a very good educational base The project had most of the design and platform build completed Using reverse engineering as well as technical documentation provided by previous groups was helpful An important lesson was learned in how reverse engineering and proper documentation are important in engineering For example, isolating different components of the systems such as motors, the Arduino Uni boards, and the relays to see how the system functions without them This helped to come up with ideas for improvement such as replacing the current potentiometers with better quality logarithmic potentiometers Debugging a system should start from the simplest problems to solve then advancing to the harder problems The project stalled twice because of a bad Arduino board, broken potentiometer connections and improper interface between the computer and the Arduino board Worst case scenarios were explored first which took weeks, only to realize that the problems were much simpler Instead of looking for the biggest problems, look at the lesser problems first then move to the more complex problems if needed The biggest lesson is how various subsystems come together to form one working system such as the virtual reality flight motion simulator Computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering contributed to the project Despite different specializations, every member of the group had to understand how the other group members were doing their work so that it would be easier to integrate the subsystems into one unit Essentially, every group member became a systems engineer Experience from other parts of engineering makes members of the group more versatile and better prepared for industry CONCLUSION Although this endeavor is currently a work in progress, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn This type of complex hands-on interdisciplinary project is quite challenging for this latest group of students, but it is also believed to be very beneficial Communications, planning, patience and teamwork are required to complete the various subsystems necessary for this VR flight simulator, and then synthesize these subsystems into a working whole The students are learning how to transition from the role of subsystem engineer to systems engineer as they manage the inputs, outputs, and other interactions between subsystems as the whole thing comes together As a former systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft, Space and Communications Group in the 1990s working on satellite attitude dynamics and control systems, it seems that this project does a pretty good job of replicating the issues involved in such an industrial setting, and as a result, is preparing these students for success in both subsystem and systems engineering roles BIBLIOGRAPHY Halsmer, D M., Voth, J A., McCain, C A., Reutter, J D., Frailey, N S., Samuelson, M., & Ahrens, D (2018, June), Development of a Virtual Reality Flight Simulator to Assist in the Design of Original Aircraft Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah https://peer.asee.org/30326 J Abbitt, B Carroll, R Fearn, & R Rivers, “Flight Test Engineering-An Integrated Design/Laboratory Course,” ASEE Journal, Vol 18, 1996 3 David F Rogers, “An Engineering Flight-Test Course Emphasizing Flight Mechanics Concepts,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol 39, no (79-83), 2002 Khan, M J., & Heath, B E (2012, June), Virtual Flight Test: An Effective Pedagogical Approach Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas https://peer.asee.org/22217 Pashilkar, Abhay A., “Trends in Simulation Technologies for Aircraft Design,” Journal of Aerospace Sciences and Technologies, Vol 66, no (1-11), Feb., 2014 Raymer, Daniel P., Dan Raymer's Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders Los Angeles, CA: Design Dimension, 2003 Raymer, Daniel P., Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, 5th Ed., American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Reston, VA, 2012 Budynas, Richard & Nisbett, Keith, Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design, 10th Ed., Boston, McGraw-Hill, 2014