Pilot Expertise and Instrument Failure: Detecting Failure is Only Half the Battle

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (19) ◽  
pp. 1306-1310
Author(s):  
Randy J. Brou ◽  
Stephanie M. Doane ◽  
Daniel W. Carruth ◽  
Gary L. Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Instrument Panel ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Failure Condition ◽  
Flight Experience ◽  
Novices And Experts

The present research examined novice and expert flight performance in simulated routine and announced instrument failure flight conditions. Pilots flew routine flight segments under simulated instrument flight rules, and were informed there would be an instrument failure at some point. Microsoft Flight Simulator was used to simulate a slow vacuum failure that impacted the attitude indicator and the failure was explicitly displayed in large letters on the instrument panel throughout the failure segment. Although novices and experts showed minimal axis deviations from optimal during routine flight maneuvers, the novice deviations increased significantly in the announced failure condition. The results have implications for the efficacy of instrument failure indicators for novice pilots with approximately ninety-five hours of flight experience.

The Relationship between Flight Simulator Motion and Training Requirements

1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL W. CARO
Keyword(s):  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Simulator Design ◽  
Simulator Motion ◽  
External Forces ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Training ◽  
Disturbance Cues

Flight simulator motion has been demonstrated to affect performance in the simulator, but recent transfer of training studies have failed to demonstrate an effect upon in-flight performance. However, these transfer studies examined the effects of motion in experimental designs that did not permit a dependency relationship to be established between the characteristics of the motion simulated and the training objectives or the performance measured. Another investigator has suggested that motion cues which occur in flight can be dichotomized as maneuver and disturbance cues, i.e., as resulting from pilot control action or from external forces. This paper examines each type cue and relates it analytically to training requirements. The need to establish such relationships in simulator design is emphasized. Future transfer studies should examine specific training objectives that can be expected to be effected by motion.

Task Analytic Approach to Human Performance Battery Development

1980 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 354-358
Author(s):  
Richard H. Shannon
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Analytic Procedure ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Tracking Tasks ◽  
Performance Measurement Systems ◽  
Critical Components

Task analytic methods were used to isolate critical components of naval student flight performance. This goal was accomplished by utilizing factor and regression analyses to compare student maneuver errors during primary training to the overall phase grades of primary, basic and advanced. The results indicated that flight ability skills appear to be best measured by basic transitions, coordination flying and entries to dirty configurations. These items could be measured within a flight simulator. In a laboratory, these skills could best be measured by a performance battery which contained memory, problem-solving, continuous tracking tasks, and a time-sharing capability between continuous tracking and discrete tasks. In conclusion, the task analytic procedure was determined to be a feasible and useful undertaking in the development of performance measurement systems such as the PETER project.

Designing External Aids that Support Older Pilot Performance

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-189
Author(s):  
Daniel Morrow ◽  
Dervon Chang ◽  
Christopher Wickens ◽  
Esa Rantanen ◽  
Liza Raquel
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Instrument Panel ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Note Taking ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Concurrent Tasks ◽  
Task Environments

Communication taxes pilots' cognitive resources. External aids such as note-taking help pilots manage these demands. Morrow et al. (2003) found that note-taking eliminated age differences among pilots on a readback task compared to a no-aid condition. However, we investigated communication-only rather than multi-task environments typical of piloting. The present study compared note-taking ( kneepad) with an electronic notepad positioned next to the instrument panel in a flight simulator ( epad). The epad may be easier to coordinate with concurrent tasks because it is more integrated with flight instruments. Six older and six younger pilots used these aids to respond to ATC messages in a flight simulator. Readback accuracy was higher when pilots used either aid compared to a no-aid condition. The pattern of results suggested a smaller age difference in the aid than in the no-aid conditions. The results replicate the earlier finding of note-taking benefits and extend them to the novel epad.

Peripheral Cues and Color in Visual Simulation

1982 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 906-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrad L. Kraft ◽  
Charles D. Anderson ◽  
Charles L. Elworth
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual Scene ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Visual Simulation ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Peripheral Cues ◽  
Computer Generated Imagery ◽  
Flight Regimes

Flight performance as affected by visual field size, scene complexity and the use of color was measured in a Boeing 747 flight simulator. The visual simulator was a computer generated imagery system (G.E. Compuscene). Three experiments involving different flight regimes were conducted using military C-141 pilots as test subjects. Numerous parameters indicative of landing proficiency were recorded and analyzed to establish visual scene requirements.

Automation Effects in the Cockpit: A Low-Fidelity Investigation

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coleen Thornton ◽  
Curt Braun ◽  
Clint Bowers ◽  
Ben B. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Levels Of Automation ◽  
Problem Solving Task ◽  
And Task

The effects of automation and task difficulty on flight performance, subjective and objective workload, and a problem solving task were investigated in a low fidelity flight simulator. Forty-eight, two-person crews flew two forty-five minute scenarios that required the crew to select and obtain relief supplies for delivery to a disaster site. Two levels of automation (i.e., presence or absence of an autopilot) and two levels of task difficulty (i.e., presence or absence of wind and turbulence) were combined to yield a 2 × 2 design. Twenty-four crews performed in both levels of automation and one level of task difficulty. Results indicated that although crews in the automated condition reported less subjective workload, only one of the three measures of flight performance was affected by automation. In contrast, objective workload, as measured by performance of a secondary task, was increased for the pilot in the automated condition. In addition, under high task difficulty, problem solving was worse m the automated condition than in the manual condition. The results are discussed in terms of their support of earlier hypothesized effects of automation in the cockpit.

Airplane pilot flight performance on 21 maneuvers in a flight simulator under varying carbon dioxide concentrations

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph G. Allen ◽  
Piers MacNaughton ◽  
Jose Guillermo Cedeno-Laurent ◽  
Xiaodong Cao ◽  
Skye Flanigan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Concentrations

Aircrew Performance as a Function of Automation and Crew Composition: A Simulator Study

1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (13) ◽  
pp. 792-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Wickens ◽  
Roger Marsh ◽  
Mireille Raby ◽  
Susan Straus ◽  
Russell S. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flight Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
High Time ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Flight Experience ◽  
Simulator Study ◽  
Automation Level ◽  
Homogeneous Composition

In an experiment designed to examine the effect of crew composition and automation level on flight performance, fifty pilot-copilot crews flew a simulated instrument flight mission between three Michigan cities. Half of the crews were of homogeneous composition (both low or both high time), while half were heterogeneous consisting of one senior high time member and one junior low time member. Within each group, roughly half flew xxx with automated flight control and the other half flew manually. The flight was disrupted by periodic instrument failures. Results indicated that automation improved flight performance and lowered workload. While there was no overall difference in performance between homogeneous and heterogeneous crews, the latter group appeared to benefit more from the advantages that automation had to offer. The results are discussed in terms of the effect of automation on cockpit authority gradients, the role of flight experience, and of crew communications.

Low-Altitude Flight Performance as a Measure of Flight Simulator Fidelity

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (18) ◽  
pp. 1424-1427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc D. Winterbottom ◽  
George A. Geri ◽  
Byron J. Pierce ◽  
Nichole M. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Low Altitude

The Path to Airline Employment: Flight Experience and Performance in a Full-Mission Flight Simulation

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 797-800
Author(s):  
William J. Bramble ◽  
Jefferson M. Koonce
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measure ◽  
Flight Simulation ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Aircraft Control ◽  
Flight Experience ◽  
Rating Form ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Systematic Relationships ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Part 121

Commercial pilots were studied in order to determine whether systematic relationships existed between composition of flight experience and performance deficiencies during a performance evaluation in a flight simulator. Flight experience variables included: (a) multi-engine (ME) time, (b) Part 121/135 time, (c) instrument time, and (d) percentage of flight hours acquired as an instructor. A composite performance measure was generated by summing evaluator ratings across all eight phases of flight and all four task categories. Separate measures were generated from the evaluation rating form for each phase of flight and each task category as well. Errors were most common during the approach, arrival, and holding phases of flight. Errors involving control and navigation were more frequent than errors involving communication or configuration. Correlational methods were used to analyze relationships between experience and overall performance. Only ME and Part 121/135 time contributed significantly to prediction of performance in the simulator ( R = 0.42, p < 0.001). ME and Part 121/135 flight experience were associated with better performance during the arrival and approach phases of flight and with better aircraft control. ME experience was uniquely associated with better performance during the holding phase of flight and with configuration and navigation performance. Part 121/135 experience were uniquely associated with better performance during the takeoff and enroute phases of flight and with superior communication. Implications for pilot selection are discussed.

Hypoxia and Flight Performance of Military Instructor Pilots in a Flight Simulator

2010 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 654-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard A. Temme ◽  
David L. Still ◽  
Michael T. Acromite
Keyword(s):  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Flight Performance
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