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At least 307 records · Page 17

A pilot study of human response to general aviation aircraft noise

A pilot study, conducted to evaluate procedures for measuring the noise impact and community response to general aviation aircraft around Torrance Municipal Airport, a typical large GA airport, employed Torrance Airport's computer-based aircraft noise monitoring system, which includes nine permanent monitor stations surrounding the airport. Some 18 residences near these monitor stations were equipped with digital noise level recorders to measure indoor noise levels. Residents were instructed to fill out annoyance diaries for periods of 5-6 days, logging the time of each annoying aircraft overflight noise event and judging its degree of annoyance on a seven-point scale. Among the noise metrics studied, the differential between outdoor maximum A-weighted noise level of the aircraft and the outdoor background level showed the best correlation with annoyance; this correlation was clearly seen at only high noise levels, And was only slightly better than that using outdoor aircraft noise level alone. The results indicate that, on a national basis, a telephone survey coupled with outdoor noise measurements would provide an efficient and practical means of assessing the noise impact of general aviation aircraft.

Stearns, J.↗

A simulator investigation of engine failure compensation for powered-lift STOL aircraft

A piloted simulator investigation of various engine failure compensation concepts for powered-lift STOL aircraft was carried out at the Ames Research Center. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of engine failure compensation on recovery from an engine failure during the landing approach and on the precision of the STOL landing. The various concepts include: (1) cockpit warning lights to cue the pilot of an engine failure, (2) programmed thrust and roll trim compensation, (3) thrust command and (4) flight-path stabilization. The aircraft simulated was a 150 passenger four-engine, externally blown flap civil STOL transport having a 90 psf wing loading and a .56 thrust to weight ratio. Results of the simulation indicate that the combination of thrust command and flight-path stabilization offered the best engine-out landing performance in turbulence and did so over the entire range of altitudes for which engine failures occurred.

Nieuwenhuijse, A. W.↗

System for indicating direction of intruder aircraft

A pilot warning indicator system consisting of a flashing beacon, a detector, and an indicating panel is described. The detector responds to radiant energy from another aircraft's beacon by energizing particular signal lamps positioned in the periphery of the pilot's normal field of view. Since the positions of the energized lamps are related to the direction from which radiant energy is received by the detector, the pilot is apprised of the relative position of an intruder aircraft without any shift in visual fixation.

Story, A. W.↗

A manual control theory analysis of vertical situation displays for STOL aircraft

Pilot-vehicle-display systems theory is applied to the analysis of proposed vertical situation displays for manual control in approach-to-landing of a STOL aircraft. The effects of display variables on pilot workload and on total closed-loop system performance was calculated using an optimal-control model for the human operator. The steep approach of an augmentor wing jet STOL aircraft was analyzed. Both random turbulence and mean-wind shears were considered. Linearized perturbation equations were used to describe longitudinal and lateral dynamics of the aircraft. The basic display configuration was one that abstracted the essential status information (including glide-slope and localizer errors) of an EADI display. Proposed flight director displays for both longitudinal and lateral control were also investigated.

Baron, S.↗

G-load indicator and warning device for aircraft

Device facilitates pilot control of g-load maneuvers and provides immediate indication of g-load constraint violations. It may be used in test flights, in aircraft simulators, or in displays of performance of remotely piloted aircraft.

Howard, J. C.↗

A spatial disorientation predictor device to enhance pilot situational awareness regarding aircraft attitude

An effort was initiated at the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (AAMRL) to investigate the improvement of the situational awareness of a pilot with respect to his aircraft's spatial orientation. The end product of this study is a device to alert a pilot to potentially disorienting situations. Much like a ground collision avoidance system (GCAS) is used in fighter aircraft to alert the pilot to 'pull up' when dangerous flight paths are predicted, this device warns the pilot to put a higher priority on attention to the orientation instrument. A Kalman filter was developed which estimates the pilot's perceived position and orientation. The input to the Kalman filter consists of two classes of data. The first class of data consists of noise parameters (indicating parameter uncertainty), conflict signals (e.g. vestibular and kinesthetic signal disagreement), and some nonlinear effects. The Kalman filter's perceived estimates are now the sum of both Class 1 data (good information) and Class 2 data (distorted information). When the estimated perceived position or orientation is significantly different from the actual position or orientation, the pilot is alerted.

Chelette, T. L.↗

A compilation and analysis of typical approach and landing data for a simulator study of an externally blown flap STOL aircraft

A piloted simulation study has been made of typical landing approaches with an externally blown flap STOL aircraft to ascertain a realistic dispersion of parameter values at both the flare window and touchdown. The study was performed on a fixed-base simulator using standard cockpit instrumentation. Six levels of stability and control augmentation were tested during a total of 60 approaches (10 at each level). A detached supplement containing computer printouts of the flare-window and touchdown conditions for all 60 runs has been prepared.

Middleton, D. B.↗

Development of longitudinal handling qualities criteria for large advanced supersonic aircraft

A piloted simulation study was conducted with the aim of advancing the development of longitudinal handling qualities criteria for large supersonic cruise aircraft. The areas of study investigated included high-speed cruise maneuvering, and stall-recovery control power. Comparisons were made with existing criteria and, for the cruise condition, a time response criterion was developed which correlated well with pilot ratings and comments. For low-speed stall recovery a new criterion was developed in terms of nose-down angular acceleration capability.

Sudderth, R. W.↗

Reduced Crew/Single Pilot Operations for Commercial Aircraft - Concept of Operations and Technology Needs

In 2012, NASA began exploring the feasibility of single pilot operations (SPO) and reduced crew operations (RCO) in the context of scheduled passenger air carrier operations (i.e., Parts 121 and 125). Technology and automation, especially aircraft automation, have significantly advanced in the 21st century and may be enabling to SPO. However, a move to SPO also has significant challenges. The purpose of a three-year NASA effort was to identify those challenges through workshops, analytic studies, and human-in-the-loop simulations assessing promising concepts and prototype solutions. This presentation will describe the progress that has been made in that three year effort.

reduced crew operations↗

Survey of piloting factors in V/STOL aircraft with implications for flight control system design

Flight control system design factors involved for pilot workload relief are identified. Major contributors to pilot workload include configuration management and control and aircraft stability and response qualities. A digital fly by wire stability augmentation, configuration management, and configuration control system is suggested for reduction of pilot workload during takeoff, hovering, and approach.

Ringland, R. F.↗

Criteria Relating Wake Vortex Encounter Hazard to Aircraft Response

Piloted six-degree-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 reproduced realistically 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, Robert I.↗

A predictive pilot model for STOL aircraft landing

An optimal control approach has been used to model pilot performance during STOL flare and landing. The model is used to predict pilot landing performance for three STOL configurations, each having a different level of automatic control augmentation. Model predictions are compared with flight simulator data. It is concluded that the model can be effective design tool for studying analytically the effects of display modifications, different stability augmentation systems, and proposed changes in the landing area geometry.

Kleinman, D. L.↗

Qualitative evaluation of a conformal velocity vector display for use at high angles-of-attack in fighter aircraft

A piloted simulation study was conducted to evaluate the utility of a display device designed to illustrate graphically and conformally the approximate location of a fighter aircraft's velocity vector. The display device consisted of two vertical rows of light emitting diodes (LED's) located toward the center of the cockpit instrument panel to each side of the control stick. The light strings provided a logical extension of the head up display (HUD) velocity vector symbol at flight path angles which exceeded the HUD field-of-view. Four test subjects flew a modified F/A-18 model with this display in an air-to-air engagement task against an equally capable opponent. Their responses to a questionnaire indicated that the conformal velocity vector information could not be used during the scenarios investigated due to the inability to visually track a target and view the lights simultaneously.

Jones, Denise R.↗