Abstract
The pilot’s spatial orientation, the same as the one of any other human, relies on a combination of stimuli coming from their audio-visual, vestibular and proprioceptive perception systems. However, these instinctive perceptual methods can easily fail while pilot is perceiving real changes of attitude, position or movement and they can also generate false illusions to each of the aforementioned parameters. This failure in a real flight is called “flight illusion” which can negatively affect the pilot’s spatial orientation. The influence of a flight illusion on the pilot’s spatial orientation can be assessed either subjectively or objectively. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate one of the possible objective assessments of the flight illusions influence on the pilot’s spatial orientation using the flight data generated by an appropriate flight simulator which were analysed in MATLAB® software. The chosen method is based on a comparison of the digitalized standard instrument flight trajectories with the real flown trajectories in the time interval with potential flight illusion influence.
Highlights
Pilot, as any other human, when searching their position and moving in 3‐D space, relies on a combination of stimuli coming from their audio‐visual, vestibular and proprioceptive perception systems [1]
The pilots in many countries absolve the flight illusion demonstrations by using sophisticated means, like disorientation simulators to be aware of its influence
The authors of this paper are confident that these tools are suitable to demonstrate the flight illusion influence, but that they can be successfully used for complete flight missions with illusion incorporated into them to demonstrate the flight illusion influence as close to reality as possible to train the pilot’s situational awareness
Summary
As any other human, when searching their position and moving in 3‐D space, relies on a combination of stimuli coming from their audio‐visual, vestibular and proprioceptive perception systems [1]. These instinctive perceptual methods can fail while perceiving real changes of attitude, position or movement and they can generate false illusions to each of the aforementioned parameters This failure in a real flight is called “flight illusion”, the usual effect of which is a pilot’s spatial disorientation [2]. The possibility of demonstrating effects of flight illusions on military pilots’ spatial orientation has been available in the Czech Air Force since 2004 when the Institute of Aviation Medicine in Prague put into operation GYRO IPT II, a new flight simulator and disorientation demonstrator Based on this possibility and in compliance with the pertinent NATO standard, all pilots in the Czech Air Force are bound to pass through, once in 5 years, the lesson of demonstrating the effects of flight illusions as part of their aero‐medical training [8]. This part of methodology shall be an analysis of data obtained while executing the complex flight mission in order to assess objectively as much as possible the effects of a flight illusion on the pilot’s spatial orientation
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