EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONAL FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS FOR USE IN HELICOPTER IFR FORMATION FLIGHT.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using existing state-of-the-art electromechanical flight instruments as display media for helicopter IFR stationkeeping formation flight (SK/FF). Systematic man-in-the-loop simulations were conducted to evaluate system performance on two classes of displays, using alternate display formats under two levels of atmospheric turbulence. The display alternatives consisted of (1) a single-cue flight director in conjunction with a horizontal situation indicator, and (2) a double-cue flight director in conjunction with the same horizontal situation indicator. Both instruments were tailored for helicopter IFR SK/FF usage. The display format alternatives consisted of two different sets of driving functions for the command elements of the flight directors. The performance measures taken during the simulations included indices of pilot proficiency in maintaining an assigned formation position, frequency of collisions, and time histories of aircraft attitudes. The results of the simulations revealed an extremely high level of precision in flight control for both classes of displays (single-cue and double-cue) and both display formats, with very little difference in performance noted between the alternative displays classes or formats. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0691468
Entities
People
- Myrna L. Toivanen
- Robert C. Clifford
Organizations
- Honeywell International, Inc.