John Farley has been using flight simulators of one sort or another since 1958 to the present. The lecture will cover some of the remarkable changes in the nature and capabilities of simulators from his perspective as a user. He will discuss lessons that he has learned about simulation and offer some personal views concerning the way simulators are used in respect of both research and pilot training applications. In the context of research he suggests there are parallels in respect of the raw data produced from simulation and the raw data measured in wind tunnels. He will explain why in his view there are two types of simulator pilots which researchers need to bear in mind when considering the data they obtain from piloted experiments.

The Edwin A Link Lecture was established in 2007 to honour Edwin A Link, the distinguished pioneer of synthetic training. His remarkable foresight led to the creation of the Link Trainer, or ‘Blue Box’ as it came to be known, the precursor of today’s powerful synthetic training devices, most notably full flight simulators.