COCKPIT SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: FLIGHT EXPERIMENT DESIGN

REPORTS ON ACCIDENTS OF MODERN MILITARY FIGHTERS INCREASINGLY IMPLICATE PILOT DISORIENTATION AS A FACTOR. WHILE SPATIAL DISORIENTATION OF PILOTS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM IN AVIATION SINCE THE BEGINNINGS OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT, IT HAS BEEN A GROWING CONCERN IN HIGH PERFORMANCE JET COCKPITS. THE HEAD-UP DISPLAY (HUD) HAS BEEN IMPLICATED AS A CONTRIBUTOR TO DISORIENTATION. RECENT RESEARCH HAS DEVELOPED SEVERAL HUD SYMBOLOGIES WHICH HOLD PROMISE FOR MINIMIZING SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISORIENTATION. A PROGRAM TO CONDUCT FLIGHT TESTS OF A PROGRAMMABLE HUD HAS BEEN PROPOSED. THIS PROGRAM WILL CONDUCT AN INFLIGHT EVALUATION OF CANDIDATE SYMBOLOGIES UNDER BOTH VISUAL AND SIMULATED INSTRUMENT CONDITIONS. AT THE SAME TIME THESE INFLIGHT SYMBOLOGY EVALUATIONS ARE BEING CONDUCTED, HUD-SPECIFIC INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TECHNIQUES WILL BE TESTED AND EVALUATED. PHASE I OF THIS PROGRAM WILL PREPARE A FLIGHT TEST PLAN, BASED ON PREVIOUS AND CURRENT HUD RESEARCH. THE ACTUAL FLIGHT TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED DURING PHASE II.