Claims
- 1. A free fall simulator comprising:
a flight chamber; a fan means positioned below said flight chamber; a noise attenuation housing substantially enclosing said fan means; and a plurality of air intake openings in said housing.
- 2. The free fall simulator of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a canopy extending radially outwardly from said flight chamber.
- 3. The free fall simulator of claim 2 wherein said canopy includes an outer peripheral edge and said housing further includes at least one noise attenuation stack positioned at the peripheral edge of said canopy.
- 4. The free fall simulator of claim 3 including a plurality of said stacks.
- 5. The free fall simulator of claim 4 including a wall section joined along a portion of said peripheral edge and between adjacent ones of said plurality of stacks.
- 6. The free fall simulator of claim 1 wherein said fan means includes at least one radially extending air intake duct and a fan positioned therein.
- 7. The free fall simulator of claim 6 including a plurality of said air intake ducts, each having a fan positioned therein.
- 8. The free fall simulator of claim 7 wherein said housing includes a canopy extending radially outwardly from said flight chamber.
- 9. The free fall simulator of claim 8 wherein said canopy includes an outer peripheral edge and said housing further includes at least one noise attenuation stack positioned at the peripheral edge of said canopy.
- 10. The free fall simulator of claim 8 including a plurality of said stacks.
- 11. The free fall simulator of claim 2 wherein said flight chamber includes a lower end and an upper end and said canopy extends radially outwardly from said flight chamber near said lower end and above said fan means.
- 12. A free fall simulator comprising:
a flight chamber having a lower end; a fan means comprising a plurality of fans and corresponding air inlet ducts extending radially outwardly from the lower end of said flight chamber; and a noise attenuation stack connected with each of said air inlet ducts.
- 13. The free fall simulator of claim 12 wherein said noise attenuation stack includes an open top or a plurality of openings in its top.
- 14. A pre-flight simulator comprising:
a flight chamber; a fan means positioned below said flight chamber; a noise attenuation housing substantially enclosing said fan means; a substantially closed hood above said flight chamber; a plurality of openable and closeable louvers in said hood; one or more recirculation columns between said hood and said noise attenuation housing.
- 15. The pre-flight simulator of claim 14 including a temperature control for controlling the temperature within said flight chamber.
- 16. A free fall simulator comprising:
a flight chamber; an ingress/egress system allowing a user to enter and exit from said flight chamber or an area adjacent to said flight chamber, said ingress/egress system including an air lock door system including a pressure transition chamber between the ambient atmosphere and said flight chamber.
- 17. The free fall simulator of claim 16 wherein said air lock door system includes a revolving door.
- 18. The free fall simulator of claim 16 wherein said air lock door system includes a pair of air lock doors defining said transition chamber.
- 19. A method of free fall simulation comprising:
providing a flight chamber with sufficient dynamic pressure to support a user against the force of gravity; providing an air lock door system with a pressure transition chamber between the ambient atmosphere and said flight chamber; maintaining said flight chamber with sufficient dynamic pressure to support a user against the force of gravity while users enter or exit from said flight chamber or an area adjacent to said flight chamber through said air lock door system.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said air lock door system is a revolving door.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application 60/404,891, filed on Aug. 20, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60404891 |
Aug 2002 |
US |