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Larsen, W. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Larsen, W. E..

Some human factors issues in the development and evaluation of cockpit alerting and warning systems

A set of general guidelines for evaluating a newly developed cockpit alerting and warning system in terms of human factors issues are provided. Although the discussion centers around a general methodology, it is made specifically to the issues involved in alerting systems. An overall statement of the current operational problem is presented. Human factors problems with reference to existing alerting and warning systems are described. The methodology for proceeding through system development to system test is discussed. The differences between traditional human factors laboratory evaluations and those required for evaluation of complex man-machine systems under development are emphasized. Performance evaluation in the alerting and warning subsystem using a hypothetical sample system is explained.

Randle, R. J., Jr.↗

Wake vortex encounter hazards criteria for two aircraft classes

An investigation was conducted using a piloted, motion-base simulator to determine wake vortex hazard criteria for two classes of jet transport aircraft. A light business jet and a large multiengine jet transport were represented respectively. The hazard boundaries were determined in terms of the maximum bank angle due to the vortex encounter. Upsets as small as 7 deg in bank angle were considered to be hazardous at breakout altitude (200 ft (61.0 m)) for Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) and at 50 ft (15.2 m) for Visual Flight Rule (VFR) for both aircraft classes. Proximity to the ground was the primary reason for a hazardous rating. This was reflected in the reduction in the maximum bank angle at the hazard boundary and in more consistent ratings as altitude was decreased.

Sammonds, R. I.↗

Hazard criteria for wake vortex encounters

Piloted six-degrees-of-freedom motion simulator investigations were conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center to determine criteria relating the hazard posed by a wake vortex encounter to the response of the encountering airplane. These investigations demonstrated that wake vortex encounters can be realistically reproduced on a simulator, established that the maximum bank angle due to the encounter provides the best correlation with the pilot's subjective assessment of the hazard, and determined hazard boundaries in terms of maximum bank angle for two classes of jet transport aircraft.

Sammonds, R. I.↗