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Unusual Attitude and HUD
Unusual Attitude and HUD
Unusual Attitude and HUD
to-ground attacks, takeoff phase, instrument approaches, and flights with homogenous backgrounds
(5).
Shortly after the F/A-18 entered operational service
in the Swiss Air Force, there was a loss of an F/A-18D
due to SD. Like most modern combat aircraft, the
F/A-18 is equipped with a HUD as the main reference
for attitude information. There is a conventional attitude directional indicator (ADI) as a back-up instrument placed in the cockpit, located slightly above the
right knee of the pilot. At the time of the accident, no
specific rules had been established on whether to use
the HUD or the back-up ADI for recovery in a state of
SD. In an early study, Guttman demonstrated signifiDelivered by Ingenta
to: recovery times using the ADI compared
cantly faster
with the HUD (4). However, these results were obSamuel Huber
tained using an experimental, electronically generated
IP : unknown
display of an ADI that was placed as a part of the up
Wed, 21 Jun 2006
front08:01:18
control device for the HUD, and was located right
in front of the pilot. In another study, Kinsley et al.
found similar results using an electromechanical ADI
(5). Both studies were performed using research cockpit
simulators where both size and location of the ADI
were different from the actual back-up ADI in the origINCE THE BIRTH of military aviation, maintaining
inal F/A-18 cockpit. Since most F/A-18 pilots have a
situational awareness is a critical task in piloting an
rich experience of flying conventionally equipped airaircraft. Despite the ever-growing efforts undertaken by
craft, we were interested to know if the results from the
the aircraft industry and those responsible for training,
studies of Kinsley and Guttman could be reproduced in
spatial disorientation (SD) remains one of the deadliest
the actual F/A-18 environment, resulting in a recomthreats to both pilot and aircraft. SD can be defined as a
mendation for the use of the back-up ADI in a state of
pilots erroneous perception of the position, motion, or
SD. We tested the hypothesis that decision time and
attitude of the aircraft or of himself/herself within the
recovery time would be faster using the ADI and the
fixed coordinate system provided by the surface of the
error rate would be lower than with the HUD as priEarth and the gravitational vertical relative to his/her
mary attitude reference.
own or other aircraft (2). Vision is the primary sensory
channel used to assess spatial orientation. During operations in visual meteorological conditions, the outside
visual scene provides the primary information for
maintaining spatial orientation, while operations in instrumental meteorological conditions require information from cockpit instruments for the pilot to stay spatially oriented. The timely and accurate visual
identification of attitude information from the cockpit
instruments is critical to the safe operation of aircraft in
instrument meteorological conditions. Other authors
found that SD is likely to occur in head-up display
(HUD) equipped fighter aircraft (1,6) and identified
SD-prone situations like air combat maneuvering, air444
METHODS
Seven fighter pilots joining a conversion course to the
F/A-18 volunteered to participate in this study. All
From Defense Air Force, Institute of Aviation Medicine, Dubendorf, Switzerland.
This manuscript was received for review in September 2005. It was
accepted for publication in December 2005.
Address reprint requests to: Dr. S. W. Huber, Defense Air Force,
Institute of Aviation Medicine, Bettlistrasse 16, CH-8600 Dubendorf,
Switzerland; samuel.huber@vtg.admin.ch.
Reprint & Copyright by Aerospace Medical Association, Alexandria, VA.
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine Vol. 77, No. 4 April 2006
445
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine Vol. 77, No. 4 April 2006
Sit. Nr.
Bank
Pitch
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Overall
45
135
180
90
135
45
135
90
135
180
135
60
60
0
60
60
60
60
60
0
60
60
Mean DT
ADI (SD)*
Mean DT
HUD (SD)*
1.3 (0.4)
1.5 (0.2)
1.4 (0.2)
1.6 (0.6)
1.5 (0.6)
1.4 (0.3)
1.5 (0.3)
1.3 (0.3)
1.3 (0.3)
1.3 (0.4)
1.4 (0.5)
1.4 (0.4)
1.3 (0.4)
1.4 (0.4)
1.6 (0.4)
1.4 (0.4)
1.3 (0.2)
1.4 (0.4)
1.3 (0.4)
1.3 (0.3)
1.1 (0.3)
1.4 (0.4)
1.2 (0.4)
1.3 (0.4)
p (DT)
Mean
TRT ADI
(SD)*
Mean TRT
HUD (SD)*
p (TRT)
Errors
ADI
Errors
HUD
p (Errors)
0.9
0.7
0.2
0.4
0.4
0.8
0.4
0.9
0.3
0.5
0.5
0.3
14.5 (5.3)
8.9 (4.6)
4.3 (1.0)
10.6 (2.8)
9.8 (1.7)
5.7 (1.1)
8.0 (1.4)
6.8 (0.9)
4.8 (2.3)
7.8 (2.2)
10.0 (1.8)
8.3 (3.8)
16.2 (6.9)
9.0 (1.9)
4.9 (0.9)
11.5 (2.5)
11.2 (1.8)
7.8 (2.6)
8.6 (3.2)
7.5 (2.4)
5.4 (3.0)
8.2 (1.6)
9.6 (1.3)
9.1 (4.1)
0.6
1.0
0.3
0.6
0.2
0.1
0.7
0.5
0.7
0.7
0.7
0.2
4
1
0
5
3
1
2
1
2
0
2
21
2
4
1
2
1
2
4
0
4
0
2
22
0.30
0.11
0.32
0.12
0.25
0.53
0.30
0.32
0.30
1.00
1.00
0.86
DT decision time; ADI attitude directional indicator; HUD head-up display; TRT total recovery time.
*Time measures and standard deviations are given in seconds.
Positive values indicate bank to the right, negative values bank to the left.
Positive values indicate pitch up, negative values pitch down.
Number of appearance in the test. Equal order of appearance for both HUD and ADI test conditions.
447
other persons who helped me realize this study and supported this
work with their interest, time, and expertise. This study was financed
by the Swiss Procurement Agency (armasuisse).
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy of the Swiss Air
Force.
REFERENCES
1. Benson AJ, ed. The disorientation incident. Paris: Advisory Group
for Aeronautical Research and Development; 1972. AGARD
CP-95.
2. Benson AJ. Spatial disorientation - general aspects. In: Ernsting J,
King P, eds. Aviation medicine, 2nd ed. London: Butterworths;
1988:27796.
3. Braithwaite MG. Flight simulator evaluation of a novel flight
instrument display to minimize the risks of spatial disorientation. Aviat Space Environ Med 1998; 69:733 42.
4. Guttman J. Evaluation of the F/A-18 head-up display for recovery from unusual attitudes. Warminster, PA: Naval Air Development Center; 1986 Oct. Report No.: NADC-86157 60.
5. Kinsley SA, Warner NW, Gleisner DP. A comparison of two pitch
ladder formats and an ADI ball for recovery from unusual
attitudes. Warminster, PA: Naval Air Development Center;
1985 Dec. Report No.: NADC-86012 60.
6. Proceedings of the HUD/Instrument Conference. Langley AFB,
VA: Tactical Air Command Headquarters; 1983.
7. Weinstein LF. United States Air Force head-up display control
and performance symbology evaluation. Aviat Space Environ
Med 1994; 65(5, Suppl.):A20 30.
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Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine Vol. 77, No. 4 April 2006