William Guy Ruggles (left) oversees a man whirling in his "Orientator" at Kelly Field in San Antonio Texas. During WWI, there was a need to train large numbers of aviators, so new methods for preparing pilots, such as flight simulators, were developed. The Ruggles "Orientator", one such simulator, consisted of a seat mounted within a gimbal ring assembly that enabled full rotation of the pupil in all three axes and in addition provided vertical movement. Electrical motors controllable by the simulated sticks and rudder bars produced all motions.
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