ABSTRACT

Objective: This study evaluated airline pilots’ inceptor input patterns and flight-path control strategies during a manual instrument approach as a function of recent flight practice.

Background: Manual flying skills erode due to an extensive use of automation and rare opportunity to practice these skills.

Method: One hundred and twenty-six randomly selected pilots of a European airline took part in this experiment, performing a simulated manual raw data precision approach. All of the pilots were allocated to 1 of 4 groups according to their fleet and rank: first officers and captains on short haul, as well as first officers and captains on long haul. A new method to analyze flight-path control strategies by differentiating between constant and variable flight-path errors was proposed. Time-domain measures were taken into account to evaluate sidestick inputs.

Results: We distinguished between 2 different flight-path control strategies; both differed in the deviations achieved. In addition, the pilots who predominantly used 1-dimensional sidestick inputs also had smaller deviations from the ideal flight-path.

Conclusion: Pilots showed a relationship between manual fine-motor flying skills and recent flight practice, especially in long-haul fleets.

摘要

目的：本研究根据最近的飞行实践，评估了在手动仪器进近过程中航空公司飞行员的感受器输入模式和飞行路径控制策略。

背景：由于广泛使用自动化技术和实践这些技能的难得机会，手工飞行技能受到侵蚀。

方法：126名欧洲航空公司的随机选择的飞行员参加了此实验，执行了模拟的人工原始数据精度方法。根据机队和等级，将所有飞行员分为4组中的1组：短途飞行的第一副官和上尉，以及长途飞行的第一副官和上尉。提出了一种通过区分恒定和可变飞行路径误差来分析飞行路径控制策略的新方法。考虑了时域措施以评估侧杆输入。

结果：我们区分了两种不同的飞行路径控制策略；两者在实现的偏差方面有所不同。此外，主要使用一维侧杆输入的飞行员与理想飞行路径的偏差也较小。

结论：飞行员表现出手动精细飞行技巧与近期飞行实践之间的关系，尤其是在长途机队中。