Pilot Performance in Centrifuge-Based Simulation of Unusual Attitude Recovery

Abstract

This paper describes two simulator experiments studying how accurately pilots can judge and reproduce specific g loads and how their control behavior depends on the sensation of physical g loads during unusual attitude recovery. Seventeen commercial pilots participated. The first experiment shows that pilots tend to overestimate g loads, resulting in performance below the target g load. With brief training, their performance instantly improved up to adequate levels. However, a retest after 6 months shows that this improvement did not endure. The second experiment shows that centrifuge-based g cueing helps pilots to recover from a nose-low unusual attitude, with significantly smaller deviations and within the limit load, whereas in the fixed-base condition they tend to pull almost 20% too much g load. It is concluded that physical g cueing results in improved upset recovery control and may contribute to more realistic and adequate recovery training. Copyright © 2011 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.