VISUAL SIMULATOR

A visual simulation device for producing pictorial motions of the real world relative to the inside of a cockpit in terms of roll, pitch, yaw and altitude. A first attitude-direction indicator or "eight ball, " positionable in accordance with computed flight parameters, is located on an instrument panel. The calibrated markings on a second eight ball, driven in parallel with the first, are replaced with a suitably scaled rendition of sky and terrain. An image of a portion of the second eight ball's surface is projected onto a screen by a zoom lens, located behind a central opening in a parabolic reflector and coiled light source. The screen is viewed by the pilot through a Fresnel lens. The zoom lens is controlled by the computed altitude. The visual simulator is fully compatible with a dynamic G environment such as that produced in a flight simulator gimbaled on the end of a centrifuge arm.