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The US Air Force put the VISTA/F-16 to use last October at its Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. VISTA—short for variable-stability in-flight simulator test aircraft—is configured as an NF-16D with an integrated programmable voice recognition system and a programmable helmet-mounted display. It is being used to train pilots to test future integrated cockpits.
Although the simulation system is housed in an F-16 airframe, VISTA can emulate the role of other fighters, such as the US Air Force F-15 Eagle or the US Navy F-14 Tomcat. This flexibility improves training and consolidates various sorties. For example, TPS students can evaluate specific flying qualities of the direct lift control feature of the F-14 and experience the unique pitch control characteristics of the delta wing F-106 in the same sortie without having to fly in each aircraft to experience the same quality learning. TPS expects to fly nearly 200 VISTA sorties per year.
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