Evaluating usability of amplified head rotations on base-to-final turn for flight simulation training devices

Flight simulation training devices, unless equipped with high-fidelity, panoramic field of view visual displays, are restricted in their usage for training of visual flight maneuvers. An exploratory experiment was conducted in a fixed-based simulator with eight pi-lots. The common, static triple display was tested against a single display augmented with amplified head pitch and yaw rotations. Participants started airborne in a visual circuit pattern and performed a base-to-final turn and full stop landing whilst keeping a visual scan for traffic in the vicinity. Results showed that there was a significant difference between displays: turns were initiated closer to the centerline with larger bank angles on the augmented single display. There was no degradation in vertical and cross-track error and neither in response time with the augmented setup. It also did not result in any significant extra workload or simulator sick-ness. These findings demonstrate the potential value of upgrading flight training devices and remotely piloted vehicle ground stations to improve their utility and pave the way for future research into this domain.