visual database

[simtech_gr]

anyone worked/s on vital 9 databases?

[Textech]

We have them on the T-6 sims. I'm deffinitely no expert, but there are some out there. What is the question?

[simulator757]

Have sent you a PM. When you have a moment, please give me a shout.

[simtech_gr]

i am interested in expanding the database.jpats tech, any info about the "architecture" of the db?

[sandy61]

Hope you aren't trying to mod a JPATS trainer. nono:

[simtech_gr]

really not capable of doing that.just wanna know how it works.why skouldn't i modify the trainer?

[sandy61]

I don't know if you are new to working on military equipment or not. You can't just modify anything without proper approval. The AF audits the software and hardware configurations from time to time and if they find anything not as expected, the trainer can be decertified for training.

[SimGuru]

Any change not approved by the USAF is very bad juju.

Look at the QA program and you will find a configuration control procedure.

If you get lucky, your changes will be caught by the local Sim Project Officer.

If you get unlucky, it will be caught by the evaluators. The problem here is that they can decert the sim. If they do that due to configuration control then there are penalties involved that must be paid by the contractor as well as undoing the mods.

Putting mods in Vital 9 is not too bad but I would not do it unless the sponsor (ie the base) request it. Infact, the only mods I would make would be to visual approach aids and such.

My advice --- DON'T DO IT. Been there. Done that with some stuff we thought were neat. Got busted. Situation got ugly real quick. Of course we were dealing with Det 2 out of Altus and their sense of humor was left at home but I learned my lesson.

[Jeff]

In the late 1980's contractor maintained a couple of simulators for the AF. The site manager was a former pilot who implicitly trusted his maintenance chief to do proper maintenance and configuration management. The maintenance chief was an arrogant kind of guy, smug in his role (know-it-all type). He permitted his technicians to do most anything to satisfy the instructors and students.

The simulator was Rediffusion-built (mixed analog and digital) with many like general purpose circuit cards. Each had a generic part number and a configuration part number. Technicians often mixed the generic parts irrespective of the configuration part number. Needless to say the simulator frequently behaved badly as a result. The fix was to recode software and data to make the sim "fly right".

When I did the outgoing contractor inspection, I found these configuration problems and identified them to management. The site manager had not realized his maintenance chief was clueless about configuration management. It cost the contractor about $250,000 in rework to return the simulator to baseline configuration. Needless to say the maintenance chief lost his job.

The moral to the story is its much easier to maintain proper configuration control than to try to correct major lapses in maintenance judgement.

[cooch56]

Where were the AF PO or QAR at? They were suppose to be checking the status of the sim everyday. Even though the contractor did some no-no's the QAR should have caught it.