F-16 ACES II DMS

Lockheed-Martin (TurAF) F-16 Dynamic Motion Seats

Project Overview – ACME worked with the Lockheed-Martin (L-M) division in Akron Ohio to provide motion cueing seats for the F-16 simulators that L-M produced for the Turkish Air Force (TurAF). Under this contract, ACME provided four Dynamic Motion Seat systems with each seat system going to one of four different simulator locations in Turkey. Under a separate contract to Lockheed-Martin, ACME produced a fifth motion seat for an additional F-16 trainer in Turkey.

The True Q^® F-16 motion seats delivered by ACME for this program were high fidelity replicas of the ACESII ejection seats installed in the TurAF F-16C aircraft. The seats looked, felt, and functioned like the actual aircraft seat and included a range of additional features like articulated pull-to-eject handles, arming/safing lever, emergency oxygen actuation ring, and seat deployment and transponder switches. The levers and handles on the seats were coupled to I/O sensors that provided position feedback to ACME’s motion seat manager software application The seats also included as-actual cushions and harnesses with functioning inertia reel.

The seats featured ACME’s patented motion cueing technology that drives multiple motion plates within the seat to apply motion and pressure directly to the pilot to provide realistic in-flight motion cueing. The motion seats provided cueing in all 6-degrees of freedom and included eye point correction that compensated for the vertical seat channel motions to ensure that the pilot’s view though the simulated Heads-Up Display was not disrupted by the motion.

The motion seats were also delivered with G-suit and Mask Air systems that were driven by the motion seat computer. The variable pressure G-suit system was designed to provide G-acceleration effects that provide pilot cues for G-forces during F-16 simulated missions. The G-suit pressurization system provided the trainee with both vertical onset and sustained g cues. The Motion Seats and the G-suit system responded to vertical G-demands generated by the aircraft simulation model and worked together in concert to provide additional cues to simulate high-g dynamic flight operations of the F-16 fighter jet.

The system also incorporated a pressurized breathing air system to provide clean, regulated air to the crew member to replicate the oxygen system in the F-16 aircraft. The mask air system also supported emergency and malfunctions training such as cockpit depressurization and oxygen system failures.

Company: Lockheed Martin

Year of Contract: 2013/2014