Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “PILOT”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 937 records · Page 52
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Landing practices of general aviation pilots in single-engine light airplanes

The methods and techniques used by a group of general aviation pilots during the landing phase of light airplane operations are documented. The results of 616 landings made by 22 pilots in 2 modern, four-place, single-engine, flight airplanes (one having a low wing and the other, a high wing) are presented. The landings were made on both a long runway (1524 m (5000 ft)) and a short runway (762 m (2500 ft)); both runways were considered typical of those used in general aviation. The results generally show that most of the approaches were fast with considerable floating during the flares and with touchdowns that were relatively flat or nose-low.

Goode, M. W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Pilot workload and fatigue: A critical survey of concepts and assessment techniques

The principal unresolved issues in conceptualizing and measuring pilot workload and fatigue are discussed. These issues are seen as limiting the development of more useful working concepts and techniques and their application to systems engineering and management activities. A conceptual analysis of pilot workload and fatigue, an overview and critique of approaches to the assessment of these phenomena, and a discussion of current trends in the management of unwanted workload and fatigue effects are presented. Refinements and innovations in assessment methods are recommended for enhancing the practical significance of workload and fatigue studies.

Gartner, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Failure detection by pilots during automatic landing - Models and experiments

A model is proposed to describe the pilot as a monitor of automatic landing systems. The failures treated are equivalent to the addition of a dynamic change in the mean of the observation process. The failure detection model of the pilot consists of two stages: a linear estimator (Kalman filter) and a decision mechanism based on sequential analysis. The filter equations are derived from a simplified version of the linearized dynamics of the airplane and the control loop. The perceptual observation noise is modified to include the effects of allocation of attention among the several instruments. The final result is a simple model consisting of a high-pass filter to produce the observation residuals and a decision function which is a pure integration of the residuals minus a bias term. The dynamics of a Boeing 707 were used to simulate the fully coupled final approach in a fixed-base simulator. Observers monitored the approaches and detected the failures; their performance was compared with the predictions of the model.

Gai, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Analysis of responses of cold pressor tests on pilots and executives

Statistical analyses were performed to study the relationship between cold pressor test responses and certain medical attributes of a group of 81 pilots and a group of 466 executives. The important results of this study were as follows: There was a significant relationship between a subject's cold pressor test response and his profession (that is, pilot or executive). The executives' diastolic cold pressor test responses were significantly related to their medical conditions, and their families' medical conditions. Significant relationships were observed between executives' diastolic and systolic cold pressor test responses and their history of tranquilizer and cardiac drug use.

Swaroop, R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

STS pilot user development program

Full exploitation of the STS capabilities will be not only dependent on the extensive use of the STS for known space applications and research, but also on new, innovative ideas of use originating with both current and new users. In recognition of this, NASA has been engaged in a User Development Program for the STS. The program began with four small studies. Each study addressed a separate sector of potential new users to identify techniques and methodologies for user development. The collective results established that a user development function was not only feasible, but necessary for NASA to realize the full potential of the STS. This final report begins with a description of the overall pilot program plan, which involved five specific tasks defined in the contract Statement of Work. Each task is then discussed separately; but two subjects, the development of principal investigators and space processing users, are discussed separately for improved continuity of thought. These discussions are followed by a summary of the primary results and conclusions of the Pilot User Development Program. Specific recommendations of the study are given.

Mcdowell, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Analytical study of ride smoothing benefits of control system configurations optimized for pilot handling qualities

An analytical study was conducted to evaluate the relative improvements in aircraft ride qualities that resulted from utilizing several control law configurations that were optimized for pilot handling qualities only. The airplane configuration used was an executive jet transport in the approach configuration. The control law configurations included the basic system, a rate feedback system, three command augmentation systems (rate command, attitude command, and rate command/attitude hold), and a control wheel steering system. Both the longitudinal and lateral directional axes were evaluated. A representative example of each control law configuration was optimized for pilot handling qualities on a fixed base simulator. The root mean square airplane responses to turbulence were calculated, and predictions of ride quality ratings were computed by using three models available in the literature.

Powers, B. G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A synopsis of the weather problems facing today's general aviation pilots

Concentration on weather to data has primarily been at the point of observation. There have been efforts to obtain and disseminate en route weather through pilot reports (PIREPS), but the efforts have been meager. What is needed is the cooperative efforts on the application of technology to the acquisition and dissemination of the en route weather data for those pilots in the air as well as those who are flight planning on the ground. A comprehensive three-dimensional computer storage system is proposed that receives weather information from all aircraft on IFR flight plans and stores this information by altitude and geographic coordinates. Also, a report on the Federal Aviation Administration's Research Engineering and Development Aviation Weather Program from the aspect of past, present and future is given.

Pope, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Instructor and student pilots' subjective evaluation of a general aviation simulator with a terrain visual system

Ten student pilots were given a 1 hour training session in the NASA Langley Research Center's General Aviation Simulator by a certified flight instructor and a follow-up flight evaluation was performed by the student's own flight instructor, who has also flown the simulator. The students and instructors generally felt that the simulator session had a positive effect on the students. They recommended that a simulator with a visual scene and a motion base would be useful in performing such maneuvers as: landing approaches, level flight, climbs, dives, turns, instrument work, and radio navigation, recommending that the simulator would be an efficient means of introducing the student to new maneuvers before doing them in flight. The students and instructors estimated that about 8 hours of simulator time could be profitably devoted to the private pilot training.

Kiteley, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A pilot evaluation of two G-seat cueing schemes

A comparison was made of two contrasting G-seat cueing schemes. The G-seat, an aircraft simulation subsystem, creates aircraft acceleration cues via seat contour changes. Of the two cueing schemes tested, one was designed to create skin pressure cues and the other was designed to create body position cues. Each cueing scheme was tested and evaluated subjectively by five pilots regarding its ability to cue the appropriate accelerations in each of four simple maneuvers: a pullout, a pushover, an S-turn maneuver, and a thrusting maneuver. A divergence of pilot opinion occurred, revealing that the perception and acceptance of G-seat stimuli is a highly individualistic phenomena. The creation of one acceptable G-seat cueing scheme was, therefore, deemed to be quite difficult.

Showalter, T. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The effects of cockpit environment on long-term pilot performance

A fixed-base helicopter simulator was used to examine pilot performance as influenced by noise, vibration, and fatigue. Subjects flew the simulator for periods ranging between three and eight hours while exposed to vibrations (at 17 Hz) ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 g, and noise stimuli varying between 74 (ambient) and 100 dB. Despite reports of extreme fatigue on these long flights, subject performance did not degrade. Within the limits of this study, performance tended to improve as environmental stress increased. However, subjects did suffer from lapses resulting in abnormally poor performance. These lapses are probably of short duration (seconds) and occur at unpredictable times. If such lapses occur in actual flight, they could provide an explanation for many so-called 'pilot error' accidents.

Stave, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Remotely piloted aircraft in the civil environment

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA's) are of increasing interest to the military and others, as evidenced by a number of technology and development programs that are currently funded or planned. These programs have led to a number of test aircraft with significant capabilities, and future remotely piloted aircraft are forecast to become even more capable as the technology in a number of important subsystem areas is progressing at a rapid rate. As the size, weight and cost of RPA's is reduced, the prospect of using them for civilian applications becomes more likely.

Gregory, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Piloted aircraft simulation concepts and overview

An overview of piloted aircraft simulation is presented that reflects the viewpoint of an aeronautical technologist. The intent is to acquaint potential users with some of the basic concepts and issues that characterize piloted simulation. Application to the development of aircraft are highlighted, but some aspects of training simulators are covered. A historical review is given together with a description of some current simulators. Simulator usages, advantages, and limitations are discussed and human perception qualities important to simulation are related. An assessment of current simulation is presented that addresses validity, fidelity, and deficiencies. Future prospects are discussed and technology projections are made.

Sinacori, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A model for the pilot's use of motion cues in roll-axis tracking tasks

Simulated target-following and disturbance-regulation tasks were explored with subjects using visual-only and combined visual and motion cues. The effects of motion cues on task performance and pilot response behavior were appreciably different for the two task configurations and were consistent with data reported in earlier studies for similar task configurations. The optimal-control model for pilot/vehicle systems provided a task-independent framework for accounting for the pilot's use of motion cues. Specifically, the availability of motion cues was modeled by augmenting the set of perceptual variables to include position, rate, acceleration, and accleration-rate of the motion simulator, and results were consistent with the hypothesis of attention-sharing between visual and motion variables. This straightforward informational model allowed accurate model predictions of the effects of motion cues on a variety of response measures for both the target-following and disturbance-regulation tasks.

Levison, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Pilot interministerial operation for remote sensing

Advantages and disadvantages of traditional methods of obtaining required information for land and resources management and the possibilities of remote sensing are discussed. The services available, organization and objectives of the pilot operation are presented. Emphasis is placed on multidisciplinary dialog among designers, builders, operators, interpreters and users in all phases. The principles, operation and practical applications of remote sensing systems and processing systems under the pilot operation are presented.

Delamare, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Analysis of a lateral pilot-induced oscillation experienced on the first flight of the YF-16 aircraft

In order to compare and assess potential improvements, two control systems were modeled; the original first flight or prototype aircraft system, and a modification of the prototype system, which essentially reduced the overall gain for the takeoff and landing phase. In general, the overall system gain reduction of the modified flight control system was sufficient to avoid lateral pilot-induced oscillation tendencies. Lowering the system gain reduced the tendency to rate saturate, which resulted in correspondingly higher critical pilot gains for the same control input.

Smith, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A piloted simulator investigation of augmentation systems to improve helicopter nap-of-the-earth handling qualities

A piloted simulation study assessed various levels of stability and control augmentation designed to improve the handling qualities of several helicopters in nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight. Five basic single rotor helicopters - one teetering, two articulated, and two hingeless - which were found to have a variety of major deficiencies in a previous fixed-based simulator study were selected as baseline configurations. The stability and control augmentation systems (SCAS) include simple control augmentation systems (CAS) to decouple pitch and yaw responses due to collective input and to quicken the pitch and roll control responses; SCAS of rate command type designed to optimize the sensitivity and damping and to decouple the pitch-roll due to aircraft angular rate; and attitude command type SCAS. Pilot ratings and commentary are presented as well as performance data related to the task. SCAS control usage and their gain levels associated with specific rotor type are also discussed.

Chen, R. T. N.↗
NASA NTRS1979

In-flight simulation with pilot-center of gravity offset and velocity mismatch

Similarity transformations which preserve modal characteristics and pilot's acceleration cues in in-flight simulation are presented. The model transformation for lateral acceleration matching is developed. A velocity-mismatch example, based on a VRA simulation of the Space Shuttle, illustrates that acceleration matching is achieved at the expense of mismatching in cues which are secondary to the simulated piloting task, while primarily cues are preserved. The approach is applicable for both implicit and explicit model-following, and it can easily be extended to the longitudinal case.

Stengel, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Single pilot scanning behavior in simulated instrument flight

A simulation of tasks associated with single pilot general aviation flight under instrument flight rules was conducted as a baseline for future research studies on advanced flight controls and avionics. The tasks, ranging from simple climbs and turns to an instrument landing systems approach, were flown on a fixed base simulator. During the simulation the control inputs, state variables, and the pilots visual scan pattern including point of regard were measured and recorded.

Pennington, J. E.↗