The TRIDAC analog computer system
A number of simulators have been built to represent complete
aircraft in flight [...]. One of the most ambitious of these is a
machine known as TRIDAC at the Royal Aircraft Establishment,
Farnborough [UK]. The name TRIDAC is derived from
"three-dimensional analogue computer", which means that it is
designed for solving problems of flight in three dimensions.
Altogether it contains over 600 d.c. amplifiers and a good deal of
electromechanical computing apparatus - an assemblage which
requires a large building to house it, complete with offices, test
rooms and its own power station. Fig. 5.1 gives some idea of how
the whole complicated machine is arranged.
Picture and text fragment taken from T.E. Ivall, "Electronic
Computers", Iliffe & Sons (London) 1956.
