The TRIDAC analog computer system

tridac
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.

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