Flight Training Program Research Articles

The Transfer of Skill from a Computer Game Trainer to Actual Flight

A study was conducted at the flight school of the Israeli Airforce to test the transfer of skills from a complex computer game to flight. The context relevance of the game to flight was argued on the basis of a skill oriented task analysis, anchored in contemporary models of the human processing system. The influence of two embeded training strategies was compared, one focusing on the specific skills involved in performing the game, the other designed to improve the general ability of trainees to cope with the high attention load of the flight task. Flight scores of two groups of cadets who received 10 hours of training in the computer game were compared with those of a matched group of cadets without game experience. Both game groups performed significantly better than the no game group in the subsequent test flights. They also had higher final percentage of graduation from the flight training program. The game has now been incorporated in the regular training program of the airforce.

Transfer of Landing Skills in Beginning Flight Training

Beginning flight students from the University of Illinois flight training program were given two sessions of landing practice in a simulator with a computer-animated contact landing display before they commenced intensive landing practice in the aircraft. For each experimental student there was a control student, paired with the same instructor, who received no landing practice in the simulator. Experimental students required significantly fewer presolo landings in the airplane than did the paired controls, representing a potential saving of about 1.5 presolo flight hours per student. These data show that pretraining with a moderately detailed, yet relatively inexpensive, computer-animated landing display can offer worthwhile savings in flight time. Some students were provided adaptive visual augmentation during their simulator training, and there was evidence of incremental transfer attributable to this instructional feature.

Modeling Instructor Training Preparation in a Simulation Flight Training Program

Abstract The current research deals with planning problems related to instructors training in simulator flight training programs. It is a part of our development work in optimal training programs to support the cost effective design of instructor/operator stations(IOS). A flight simulator is a complex device which can be used to train students and instructors, whose training requirements and methodologies are quite different. This paper deals with this complex man-machine interface planning problem, presents a model for the instructors training process, and develops a methodology for determining optimal training plans.

Fidelity of Task Structure as a Guiding Principle in the Development of Skill Trainers Based upon Complex Computer Games

Fidelity of task structure is proposed to replace physical fidelity, as a cost effective guiding principle in the development of trainers for complex tasks. The paper describes a research project in which a complex computer game was designed to mimic the requirements of flight skill. It was then employed as part trainer within an actual flight training program. The game was mainly directed to teach subjects strategies of attention control and efficient allocation of processing resources. It was found to improve trainees performance in flight. The paper discusses the theoretical roots of the proposed approach and some results of its application in an actual training environment.

Organization and Management Techniques for Collegiate Flight Training Programs -- A Foundation for Improved Human Resources Management

Whether an organization has one employee or 1,001, the effective and efficient use of time and effort is an on going challenge for management. The collegiate flight school is no different from any other business enterprise and IS fertile ground for the implementation of many techniques of human resource management which have existed for sometime in the educational and business administration fields. Through an examination of several historically significant models and concepts that have been utilized to improve the productivity and health of the organization. it is the intent of this paper to equip the flight school manager with some effective tools with which to develop and sustain a happier and more viable unit.

The Optimum Presentation of Cognitive Training during a Flight Training Program

Four groups of subjects (N = 8 in each group) were presented training, based on the cognitive aspects of a basic flight maneuver, at different times during the acquisition of the motor skills needed to perform that maneuver. Results indicate that the performance of the group that received extensive cognitive training prior to attempting the associated motor skills was significantly better (p<.05) than the groups that received the same cognitive training interspersed during the initial learning of the motor skills. This was true even when the interspersed training was preceded by extensive cognitive pretraining. Results also show that cognitive training interspersed with motor skill learning produced a deterioration in performance as the performance of the two groups receiving the training was below that of the control group which received no cognitive training whatsoever. Transfer of training to a similar maneuver indicated that the groups that were initially trained using extensive cognitive pretraining performed significantly better than the groups that received only interspersed cognitive training and the control group.

Conserving Instructional Training Resources through Use of the Personalized System of Instruction

Training managers in the U.S. Army face a continuing problem of meeting increasing training demands with limited instructional resources, particularly qualified training personnel. In most aviation unit flight training programs, instructor pilots (IPs) serve a dual role of academic lecturer and in-the-cockpit instructor. To reduce the amount of IP time required to administer training in a reserve aviator training program, a 19-day training program was developed that incorporates home study and features of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI). Forty-seven aviators were trained using this program. Following one year of no training, 24 of the aviators returned for refresher training using the same program. The results indicate that the home study/PSI approach reduces on-site academic training time and virtually eliminates IP time on academic topics. The results also suggest that an academic training program based on PSI can be used successfully while conserving the scarce instruction resource of IP time.

An Integrated, Module Based, Flight Training Program

In an attempt to make flight training more consistent with present demands and future trends a modular flight training program has been developed which combines classrom instruction, computer aided and managed instruction, latest audio visual aids, state of the art ground training devices and unique mix of aircraft not generally found in college based flight training program. All these elements are integrated into a tightly controlled and carefully sequenced set of training objectives.

Application of the 4× real‐time digital signal processor for the simulation of programmed sound environment: Aircraft/underwater noise simulation

Flight simulation and training programs for underwater detection and identification of ships require the synthesis of realistic sonic environments. The sound synthesis must be accurate, it must be linked to the simulation of motion and of the visual environment, and it must respond to changing internal and external conditions and to the actions of the pilot or operator. Analog sound synthesis techniques cannot meet these severe requirements. Therefore, we have applied the 4× digital sound processor, designed at I.R.C.A.M., to the synthesis of highly realistic aircraft and underwater noises. After analysis of the signals in various situations in frequency and time domains, an acoustical sound generation model is implemented in the processor. The parameters defining the sound characteristics being passed by the host simulation computer, are derived from a mechanical model of the planes or ships. For example, the aircraft noise comprises fan, propeller (if needed), jet, gear, aerodynamic sounds, as well as alarms and VHF traffic communications. The underwater noises consist of sea background, biological noise (shrimps), and one boat, the complex noise of the boat itself being made up of diesel engines, gear works, auxiliary equipment, and propeller noise, with various cavitation and blade configurations.

Aircraft Simulators and Pilot Training

Flight simulators are built as realistically as possible, presumably to enhance their training value. Yet, their training value is determined by the way they are used. Traditionally, simulators have been less important for training than have aircraft, but they are currently emerging as primary pilot training vehicles. This new emphasis is an outgrowth of systems engineering of flight training programs, and a characteristic of the resultant training is the employment of techniques developed through applied research in a variety of training settings. These techniques include functional context training, minimizing over-training, effective utilization of personnel, use of incentive awards, peer training, and objective performance measurement. Programs employing these and other techniques, with training equipment ranging from highly-realistic simulators to reduced-scale paper mockups, have resulted in impressive transfer of training. The conclusion is drawn that a proper training program is essential to realizing the potential training value of a device, regardless of its realism.

The problem of loss of consciousness in flying personnel ∗

L oss OF consciousness is one of the more serious problems currently facing aviation and space medicine. Split-second human failure in the modern supersonic aircraft of today and the rocket-propelled space craft of tomorrow can have disastrous consequences. At ground level syncope is regarded quite casually by the lay public and the medical profession alike because of the usual lack of complications and sequelae. But in the environments of the atmosphere and space, transitory loss of conciousness is more likely to result in serious accidents with loss of life and property. Therefore, it becomes obvious that persons in primary control of aircraft must not be prone to syncope. Although syncope is a common occurrence, little information is available concerning its incidence in the general population, in an apparently healthy adult male population and in flying personnel. More important, little is known concerning the likelihood of recurrence in any given subject, or the relationship of clinical syncope to experimental syncope. Criteria for selection of U. S. Air Force flying personnel are based upon an absence of syncopal episodes in the past and a rigorous physical examination. It is difficult to judge the adequacy of these technics for selection. However, they seem inadequate when an attempt is being made to determine whether or not a subject who has fainted at ground level is apt to have a similar episode during flight. The School of Aviation Medicine studied 132 apparentlyhealthy persons, ninety-seven with a history of clinical syncope and thirty-live without such a history. This survey provided an opportunity for reviewing the mechanisms resulting in syncope in apparently healthy people. It was believed that the incidence of such mechanisms would differ from that of the general population because of the initial selection criteria, and that such classic mechanisms as aortic stenosis,1-3 anemia and central nervous system disorders4 would account for little, if any, of the syncopal episodes in flying personnel. MATERIAL AND METHODS In an attempt to determine the true incidence of syncope in an apparently healthy population of young adult men, 5,000 questionnaires were sent to Air Force personnel on a single base. It was requested that the questionnaires be returned unsigned to avoid any motivation to withhold information. No attempts were made regarding further selection within this population. Fifty aviation cadets in preflight training volunteered as subjects for a special medical study. As an incentive, each was given additional time off from duty. None knew that the study was related to loss of consciousness. All cadets had previously denied syncopal episodes in order to gain admittance to the flight training program. Each cadet was assigned a number which he selected from a hat. He was never identified by name and thus was guaranteed anonymity. The cadets were then asked to report in writing any past history of syncope and the circumstances surrounding any episode. The purpose was to obtain some idea as to the percentage of people entering the flying training program who had experienced syncopal episodes. It was also hoped that, with a battery of special tests designed to tesi. the cardiovascular system. those cadets with a me-existing history of syncope could be selected. The examiners did not know the cadet’s history until the special tests had been completed. An additional eighty-two apparently healthy, flying personnel who had experienced 113 syncopal episodes were also studied. All 132 subjects were studied with a detailed history, complete physical examination, complete blood counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fasting blood sugar, urinalysis, roentgenogram of the chest and electrocardiogram. Roentgenograms of the skull and additional studies were obtained as indicated when a history of syncope was noted.

Some Evidence for the Concurrent Validity of the Heineman Anxiety Scale

231 cadets who had failed or were withdrawing from the Naval Flight Training Program were classified into “anxiety” or “no-anxiety” groups. The “anxiety” group had a significantly higher score on the Heineman forced-choice form of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale than did the “no-anxiety” group.

SOME EVIDENCE FOR THE CONCURRENT VALIDITY OF THE HEINEMAN ANXIETY SCALE

231 cadets who had failed or were withdrawing from the Naval Flight Training Program were classified into “anxiety” or “no-anxiety” groups. The “anxiety” group had a significantly higher score on the Heineman forced-choice form of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale than did the “no-anxiety” group.

Prediction of flying success by clinical analysis of test protocols.

In the present study there is little doubt that the clinical assessments of beginning aviation cadets have no relationship to a criterion of adjustment in the basic flight-training program. The objective findings can hardly be ignored, and it is of utmost importance to consider the possible explanations of these results in order to appreciate fully their significance. Various explanations are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)