I want to run an experiment with pilots flying a simulated flight. I need to collect data about their performance (accuracy of handling the joystick, speed etc). Do you know if there is a flight simulation game that allows the experimenter to collect such kind of data?
Thanks a lot,
Alex
You should investigate X-Plane. It has realistic aircraft models and offers you log the data via plug-ins.
https://www.x-plane.com/
http://www.x-plane.org/
Good luck!
Hi Alexandros,
As far as I know you may play "Microsoft Flight Simulator" to collect data because it is the most popular flight game. I think it helps.
Mustafa
Perhaps you have heard about X-Plane 11, a very detailed, realistic, and modern flight simulator developed by Laminar Research.
https://www.x-plane.com/
Hi all, thank you! Yes I am aware of the X-Plane and FSX and I have played both. I am now trying to find a way of collecting data while playing that can be exported to a format I can process further. If anyone is familiar with such tools, I would be happy to hear more!
The models included in the games - may it FSX, its successor Prepar3d or XPlane have a very basic modelling (call it unrealistic) concerning performance data. I wouldn't take that into account as a research data basis.
But every simulation game can be expanded by very sophisticated add-ons which come very close to the real aircraft behaviour of systems, flight mechanics and performance.
Depending of which aircraft you want to consider, the following addons are of a high quality:
FSX/Prepar3d:
- Airbus A319 and A320 by Flightsimlabs
- Boeing 737, 747 and 777 from PDMG
- MD82 by Maddog
X-PLANE
- Boeing 737 classic by IXEG
- Boeing 757 by Flight Factor
- Cessna 172 by AirfoilsLabs
This list is of course not complete. Most of the addons do the performance calculation outside of the normal game-code, so that the calculation can be customised with out the restrictions of the game engine.
Have you considered take BADA-data for your analysis? It is the data most professional airspace fast-simulations use and have a good set of performance data.
Hi Bastian,
thank you very much for your recommendations. I have finally purchased X-Plane 11 and I am now looking for an add-on for the Piper Seneca. I am interested in basic flight parameters at the moment. To be honest, I have not decided what to measure yet as this will depend on my findings from my last experiment. However, I am searching for a software that could do the job for me in a few months. I checked the trial version of X-Plane 11 and saw that many parameters can be recorded. But I am not sure if this the BADA data you mentioned?
Best regards,
Alex
Hi Alex,
No, BADA has nothing to do with XPLANE. Look here for the description if BADA: http://www.eurocontrol.int/services/bada
best regards,
Bastian
Dear Alex,
Through FSX and its successor Prepar3D environment, SimConnect does very good job for such kind of works.
Here is the list of what you can read from the simulation environment:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526981.aspx
As you can see, there is a lot of state data that you can collect through SimConnect.
In addition to simconnect, there is a tool called FSUIPC, which allows nearly every variable within FSX and P3d to be read.
In addition to simconnect you may try FSUIPC with FSX and P3d. It's a very powerful tool for interfacing and recording.
Dear Emre and Bastian,
thank you very much. I will make a search for SimConnect and FSUIPC. I was looking for a tool like these.
Best regards,
Alex
Dear Emre,
thank you very much. I will make a search for SimConnect.
Best regards,
Alex
I would recommend Microsoft's Flight Simulator; but this has already been suggested b others before me. Best of luck on your experiments.
Based on our own experience with collecting realistic performance data the only way is to use the Full Flight Sim of particular aircraft type. You need a right scenario and be prepared you cannot simulate any situation outside the certified flight envelope like stalls or in-flight upsets.
Dear Karel Mundel,
using a Full Flight Sim would be great. I surely expect difficulties with the design of the scenario but let's see how it goes.
Thank you,
Alexandros
We have the best experience with the full flight simulator data collection for any flight performance based experiments. This is a task of our Flight Ops Team to build a realistic scenario based on demand of our scientists.
We use the "game sims" for any Human Performance based experiments as they are sufficient for such tasks.
I looked into these approaches for simulation of flight through turbulence and wake vortices. (Matlab's tools also.) The main problem is that they don't allow for user input of wind fields - just their canned fields. If that's satisfactory, I'd go the Matlab way (or XPlane since it's a lot cheaper). If you need full control, then you have to code it up from scratch, or figure out how to use the inputs you want.
Thank you Mr Cornman. I will go for the X-Plane. I am interested in measuring pilots' performance (some very simple metrics) so, hopefully, I will not need to do any coding.
Best regards,
Alexandros
Hello sir,
I just came to see this right place I have been flying sim for a long time more than 6+ years starting from fs2002 till Fs2020. I am curious and while reading the answers and Alexandros Kontotasios thanks for connecting with such a question. I am interested like do someone works on the FS2020 simulator for any research purpose. Please share if any.
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