A lot of people are not familiar with the fact that when Lincoln Lab grew out of the Project Whirlwind (which were just names to me at that point) for the purpose of looking into radar air defense — processing radar signals with the computer and then using radio controls to defend with fighters and so forth — Whirlwind had been originally designed as an aircraft simulator for individual airplanes.

p. 22. - An Interview with Douglas T. Ross (1984)