FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-73/9

Title and Subtitle: In-flight performance of civilian pilots using moving-aircraft and moving-horizon attitude indicators

Report Date: June 1973

Authors: Hasbrook AH, Rasmussen PG

Abstract: The in-flight performance of civilian instrument-rated pilots using two different types of attitude indicators in a general aviation aircraft was measured during typical instrument flying maneuvers. The instruments were an inside-out (moving-horizon) indicator and an outside-in (moving aircraft) indicator. The subjects were divided into low and high experience groups. The results of the study differ in some degree with those of some recent ground-based studies which used the same two concepts of attitude presentation.

However, one result of the in-flight study agreed with many of the previous studies; low time pilots exhibited a narrower range of pitch excursions with the outside-in (moving aircraft) attitude indicator than they did with the inside-out (moving horizon) indicator. When combined with the authors' observations of a head-horizon tilt phenomenon relating to both humans and animals, the results of this study suggest the usefulness of a new concept for the design of the attitude indicator display. A new concept is described in the report.

Key Words: Aeronautics, Instrument Flight, Aviation Safety Flight, Human Engineering Research, Human Displays Design

No. of Pages: 17