FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-03/17

Title and Subtitle: Usability and Effectiveness of Advanced General Aviation Cockpit Displays for Instrument Flight Procedures

Report Date: November 2003

Authors: Williams KW, Ball JD

Abstract: A study was conducted to assess the impact of advanced navigation displays on instrument flight procedures for general aviation, single-pilot operations. The study was designed to identify human factors that should be considered during the deployment of this technology to the entire general aviation community and in the development of future displays. The study focuses on single-pilot operations during normal to high workload conditions, including a failure of the vacuum-driven cockpit displays. Sixteen IFR-rated pilots were asked to plan and fly two separate flights in instrument conditions, once using conventional instrumentation, and once using a moving-map/GPS display combination. Results show advantages for the advanced displays in flight performance under high-workload conditions. However, training requirements for these displays are likely to be increased relative to conventional navigational instruments.

Key Words: ADS-B Displays, General Aviation, Navigation Displays, Instrument Flight, Psychology, Applied Psychology

No. of Pages: 23