FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:   Jeffrey R. Hogue
            Systems Technology, Inc.
            310/679.2281, ext. 52
            jeffhogue@systemstech.com
            http://www.stiparasim.com

HAWTHORNE, Calif.,November 24, 1997 -- Systems Technology, Inc. (STI) today announced that one of the company's new Virtual Reality Parachute Flight Training Simulators has been installed and is in use at the Wing Life Support Unit at the Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. This simulator is used to teach F-16, F-15, B-1 and KC-135 Air Force aircrew to fly their emergency parachutes. Although the U.S. Marine Corps elite Force Reconnaissance units have been using their simulators to safely teach, plan, and practice dangerous parachute missions, this is the first installation of this new technology for training aircrew. who have none of the options on landing terrain, wind maximums, hostile location, and time of day or night that are available to operational parachutists. This system applies the new low-cost, high-performance technology, originally developed to bring PC and arcade gamers the high level of visual realism found in extremely costly military and civilian professional training systems for expensive aircraft, to training our very expensively trained pilots and other aircrew in flying a much less expensive parachute flight vehicle.

SMSgt Ernest Troquille in Wing Life Support at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho said that the "parachute flight training simulator solves the biggest problem in air crew life support: how to provide an actual hands-on training experience so that air crew really know how to safely fly their parachute to the ground after leaving an aircraft in mid air in an emergency. Previously we only had classroom lectures and equipment practice in a hanging harness, but no way of really teaching parachute flight. Classroom lectures can't offer the practice necessary to develop skills. The STI VR simulator provides immediate assessment and solution of any canopy deployment problems and allows the user to set up and fly a landing pattern while scanning in all directions for other crew members, obstacles, and hostile forces. As an experienced jumper, I can tell you that this device simulates parachuting very closely. "

"Parachuting is difficult, expensive and too hazardous to train and practice in actual flight by aircrew. Now emergency procedures can be practiced over scenes based on anticipated operations," said Jeffrey R. Hogue, principal specialist at STI.

The U.S. Air Force system combines a Virtual Reality head mounted display and tracker with the latest developments in low-cost high quality 3D texture-mapped graphics. This produces a compelling, immersive and realistic environment which allows for obstacle tracking and avoidance, a view of malfunctions overhead, as well as the field of view and display rate to avoid common simulator sickness. Specific mission terrain can be created from digital map data.

Parachute Simulator Flight Training Requirements
Military aircrew receive maneuverable parachutes for emergencies, but when these occur they have none of the options on landing terrain, wind maximums, hostile location, and time of day or night that are available to operational parachutists. The U.S. Air Force averages over 25 aircraft ejections per year and the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps over 50, 90% of which are survivable. Of these, over half result in injuries or worse, a significant number of which are related to parachute flight skills. Aircrew losses have enormous social, financial, political, and tactical costs. Although aircrew proficiency is critical, actual flight training provided is limited to a towed upwind low altitude launch under benign conditions at beginning of their careers. Subsequent training has been limited to lectures and procedures drills in a suspended harness, because emergencies are rare events and because of the hazards of real parachuting flights to a highly (and very expensively) trained individual. Essential parachuting skills and self-confidence could not be developed.

Teaching parachute flight has always been a difficult task. Safe, accurate parachuting requires both training and the practice of perceptual skills. Parachutists must learn to accurately assess parachute opening status, sense visual motion cues, and to predict and manage their descent and drift toward the landing zone while avoiding obstacles. Traditional professional training techniques were limited to texts, lectures, procedures drills, and actual (but solo) flights. Physical skills can only be acquired through practice experiences, not classroom lectures.

The Company
Systems Technology, Inc. is an employee-owned research, consulting engineering, and product development firm located in Hawthorne, California. They specialize in vehicle dynamics and control and related human factors. For forty years they have been involved in leading-edge research and design related to a wide range of aerospace, automotive, and marine vehicles. Their work in aerospace and defense has involved dynamic analysis, flight control system design, and flying qualities of fighters, transports, VSTOL, rotorcraft, the space shuttle, rockets, and missiles. Their automotive work has involves vehicle dynamics, handling qualities, transportation safety, driver behavior, and forensic engineering. They have performed this research and developed performance specifications for customers including the US Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, NASA and many of the major aerospace and automotive firms. Their research has also lead to the development and marketing of specialized analytical software as well as low cost simulators and human performance assessment devices. For more information about Systems Technology, Inc., visit the company's Website at http://www.systemstech.com.

More detailed information about Systems Technology from a link to the STI corporate home page.

Answers to questions about Parachute Simulator Flight Training.

More information about Canopy Control Training for Smokejumpers and Operational Military Personnel.

More information about Aircrew Emergencies and Aviation Physiology.

View a collection of Parachute Simulator Press Releases.

View a list of Press and Technical Articles

View a collection of Parachute Simulator VR Screen Images

Return to the main Parachute Flight Simulation Page.