The challenge to today's training system design engineer is changing; adapting to this change is necessary for survival in a demanding economy. Previously, training system engineers met with success by using emerging technologies to develop ways to increase the capability of training devices: increase fidelity, increase task capacity, increase throughput. The result has been an evolution of larger, more capable, and more expensive training devices. However, in today's environment of declining budgets, another demand is being made of the training system engineer - decrease cost!

The purpose of this paper is to describe specific challenges facing the designer of a cockpit trainer attempting to blend the training requirements of high fidelity and capability with the requirement of low cost. This paper will present innovative methods to overcome these challenges in designing a high fidelity, low-cost, cockpit trainer.

The paper emphasizes the importance of front-end analysis to determine the fidelity and cost factors that would drive the design. Specific examples of training task analysis and preliminary cost determination are given. Specific problems encountered in designing a low-cost cockpit trainer and pragmatic considerations in designing solutions for these problems are addressed. The paper examines alternatives to expensive mechanical instruments and integration and fidelity of virtual displays.

The paper concludes with a discussion of practical benefits of these design solutions. Emphasis is placed on cost savings, reliability, and efficiency through reconfigurability.