I have created a session at the upcoming Aerospace Medical Association
meeting on this very subject. Colonel Geoff McCarthy, a military
pilot-physician with 35 years experience in operational AND research
aviation medicine will be illustrating the differences between findings
from ground laboratory simulations, particularly for three aeromedical
factors (altitude tolerance, acceleration tolerance, and workload) and
operational flight. His findings (empirical, conceptual, and
anecdotal) reveal that lab simulation results aren't always directly
transferable to the cockpit.
He'll also highlight the factors that he believes to be most
responsible for these differences which he states result mostly from
workload and stress issues. He wrote an interesting paper on this in
the November 1996 issue of Human Performance in Extreme Environments
entitled "G-Induced Loss of Consciousness: An Aviation PSYCHOLOGY
Challenge.
In this paper, he begins to illustrate how psychological factors which
are experienced to a significantly greater degree in flight (namely
workload and stress) account for the discrepancy between simulation and
operational findings.
Let me know if you'd like me to mail you a copy of this paper with his
contact information, I'd be happy to.
Ephimia
OPERATIONAL RELEVANCE OF AEROMEDICAL LABORATORY RESEARCH
G.W. McCarthy, M.D.
INTRODUCTION: Aeromedical laboratory research is intended to enhance
human performance and safety in flight. It has been assumed that
results from ground laboratory simulations and experiments are directly
transferable to the cockpit. Few laboratory experiments, however, have
been replicated in flight to assess the extent of this transfer.
Moreover, a variety of elements in the operational flight environment
exist that can affect human performance and alter experimental results.
Hypothesis: Limitations of laboratory simulations and research lead to
suboptimal findings in flight performance. Factors contributing to
these limitations, including the elements of risk, stress, and
attendant anxiety afforded by the operational environment will be
identified and discussed. METHODS: Conceptual and empirical results
from three areas of aeromedical research, including altitude tolerance,
acceleration tolerance, and workload, are compared with data from
instrumented flight experiments, safety reports, and aircrew surveys.
RESULTS: Surveys reveal a 12% incidence of G-Induced Loss of
Consciousness (G-loc) in flight, however, laboratory centrifuge
incidence is significantly lower. Decompression sickness incidents in
flight are very rare, while instances are much higher among hypobaric
chamber subjects. 'Controlled flight into terrain' is currently a rare
event in flight, but simulator 'crashes' occur commonly. Confusion
during 'unusual attitude recoveries' on the other hand, is observed
both in flight and in the simulator. CONCLUSIONS: Notable differences
between laboratory flight simulations and operational findings are
observed. Reasons for these differences, their significance to human
performance in the actual flight environment, and their relevance to
future research efforts will be
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>Dear Friends,
>
> I'm a Training Development Manager for E-3 Mission Crew members.
Over the
>past few years, we've been training under the same philosophy that a
simulator
>can never give you the same performance as an actual flight. I'm a
huge
>proponet of sim being our most valuable tool in training crew members
to do
>their jobs at a huge cost saving of flying on the jet. My dilema is
that most
>people outside the pilot world disagree that sim can take the place of
flying
>training. I know that most airlines are very heavy on sim training,
and even
>the Air Force has gone that way with the C-17 program. My question is
does
>anyone know of any documentation or studies that have been done to
prove that
>performance in the sim is comparative to that in the aircraft.
____________________________________________________________
M. Ephimia Morphew,
The Society for Human Performance in Extreme Environments
6052 Wilmington Pike, No. 166, Dayton, Ohio 45459
phone: 1-500-447-HPEE
Klein Associates, Inc.
582 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road
Fairborne, OH 45324
Phone: (937) 873-8166
Fax: (937) 873-8258