FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE
FAI BALLOONING COMMISSION (CIA)


ANNUAL CONFERENCE - Bern, Switzerland March 2001

Appendix 11c

TO: CIA
FROM: Masashi Kakuda
DATE: 22nd February 2001
RE: FAI Simulated Flying Group Report

Dear Sirs,

As I reported before, there is no good activity concerning ballooning in the sim-flying group in the FAI. Their activity is mainly focusing fixed wing or rotorcraft. I, therefore, have changed my approach and wanted to collect information of simulation software for balloons in the world.

Unfortunately, I regret to tell you there are very few software available in the world which much our purposes. This is a list of software which I have been reported.

WEB:

1. Name Balloon Champion I Fuwa-fuwa pilot
Purpose: game
Hardware & Software: WEB (instructions in Japanese) site of Saga Prefecture http:flwww.pretsagajp/syoukou/kankoulgame/game4.htm
Outline: Simple game in the WEB site
2. Name Balloon Flight Simulator
Purpose: game and simulation
Hardware & Software: Custom made software and hardware
Made by the Science Museum Japan and stored by the Saga City Hall.
Outliine: Display shows balloon up & down when a player use a burner valve of real Cameron burner and basket. Views were recorded at Saga.
3. Name Kaze-makase
Purpose: game
Hardware & Software: Apple Macintosh & sharewere (probably Japanese made)
Outline: not known
4. Name Kaze-no-Notam
Purpose: game
Hardware & Software: Sony Playstation
Outline: A player can drive a balloon and drop a marker to the target. Not became popular in Japan.
5. Name Hot Air Balloon Simulator Project
Purpose: Simulation Study project at the Virtual Reality Lab of Michigan University, USA
Hardware & Software: Silicon Graphics hardware and software
Outline: Simulation with high level of virtual views
http://www-vrl.umich.edu/~saha/eng477/index.html
6. Name Balloon game in CD 'Balloons' 'The colourful World of Hot Air Ballooning'
Purpose: Game
Hardware & Software: Windows
Outline: Simple game (Key grab). The CD includes many photos or films.

Some of contributions arrived from sim-flying people, but those are customised aircraft data in the Microsoft Flight Simulator. I don't list those data since it does not much our inquiry.

In conclusion, there are some of software for games in the world, but there is no balloon flight simulator which can be used for real training at this moment or under limited research. I would like to continue this research one more year and make a report to establish outlines of simulation software for training purposes.

Sincerely yours,
Masashi Kakuda

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