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Articles 1 - 20 of 20
Full-Text Articles in Aviation
Socio-Economic Variables And Their Relationships With The Passenger To Population Ratio, Jack Matthew Westbury
Socio-Economic Variables And Their Relationships With The Passenger To Population Ratio, Jack Matthew Westbury
Theses and Dissertations
As the aviation industry expands and becomes commonplace in the modern world, it would behoove us to understand how the industry develops and passenger to population ratio could be a measure of that development. If called upon to identify how the aviation industry develops, one could only make suggestions as to which variables might be key in the development of the aviation industry. This study used existing socio-economic and population data from the United Nations and passenger information from the International Air Transport Association, with the aim to deepen the understanding of the relationship between socio-economic variables and the passenger …
Assessment Of The Skeletonization And Motion Monitoring System For The Security Efficiency Of The United States Airports, Haoruo Fu
Theses and Dissertations
The screening processes at airports, including passengers and baggage, have changed dramatically in the past twenty years. The goal of the X-ray scanning is to enhance airport screening by preventing passengers from carrying weapons and contraband. X-ray is more effective compared to traditional pat-down. The X-ray shoots beams through passengers and their baggage, which provides an inner view to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners. Issues and concerns of the use of X-ray have also been raised, as some passengers complained about possible health issues due to the body exposure of radioactive waves; other experts pointed out possible human factor …
Examining The Safety Climate Of A General Aviation Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organization: A Replication Study And Application Of Bandura’S Reciprocal Causation Model, Russell Vincent Tokarski
Examining The Safety Climate Of A General Aviation Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organization: A Replication Study And Application Of Bandura’S Reciprocal Causation Model, Russell Vincent Tokarski
Theses and Dissertations
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the safety climate of a general aviation original equipment manufacturer maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility relative to Fogarty’s (2005) and Uhuegho’s (2017) respective empirically-derived safety climate path models, and Bandura’s (1977) theoretical reciprocal causation model. The study used an explanatory correlational design, and the primary data collection instrument was Uhuegho’s Aviation Maintenance Safety Climate Survey, which consisted of Fogarty’s 48-item Maintenance Environment Survey and Goldberg and Williams’ (1988) 12-item General Health Questionnaire. The target population was all aviation maintenance technicians employed at the targeted MRO’s U.S. facilities, which complete scheduled/unscheduled …
Effects Of Graphical In-Flight Weather Information And Graphical Depictions Of Airspace Restrictions On Pilots’ Decisions To Continue Vfr Flight Into Imc, Andrew James Nakushian
Effects Of Graphical In-Flight Weather Information And Graphical Depictions Of Airspace Restrictions On Pilots’ Decisions To Continue Vfr Flight Into Imc, Andrew James Nakushian
Theses and Dissertations
Continued Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) is a leading cause of fatal general aviation accidents. According to the 2020 Joseph T. Nall Report, this type of accident has a 90% lethality rate. As a result of this high lethality rate, VFR into IMC is an aviation safety issue widely discussed among the aviation community in popular media and academic literature. Additionally, over the past decade, Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) have become mainstream in general aviation, replacing paper charts and providing inflight weather in both graphical and textual form. EFBs also commonly provide graphical depictions of …
The Effects Of Ultraviolet Radiation On Aircraft Crewmember Health, Erin Johnston
The Effects Of Ultraviolet Radiation On Aircraft Crewmember Health, Erin Johnston
Theses and Dissertations
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation and its effects on crewmember health will be evaluated by examining the variables that impact the intensity of UV radiation and the health concerns associated with this exposure. The purpose of this study was to (a) identify how Ultraviolet A (UVA) exposure is different in an aircraft cockpit when compared to the exposure at sea-level and (b) expose the adverse health impacts associated with an increased exposure of UVA radiation. This was accomplished through an examination of UV radiation and the variables that impact its effectiveness. After this analysis, the adverse health impacts experienced from UV radiation …
Development And Validation Of The Itf Scale: An Investigation Of Airline Passengers’ Intention To Fly During A Global Disruption, Guangda Liang
Development And Validation Of The Itf Scale: An Investigation Of Airline Passengers’ Intention To Fly During A Global Disruption, Guangda Liang
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate the ITF scale that measured airline passengers’ intention to fly during a global disruption. Based on the review of the literature, the researcher identified several dimensions, and each dimension was measured by question items. The target population of the current study was airline passengers in the United States who were at least 18 years old. A sample was collected using the convenience sampling. The questionnaire was distributed online. The ITF scale was validated using data collected from the online questionnaire. A factor analysis was performed. The results of the …
Follow-On Student Pilot Performance Differences Based On Private Pilot Training In A Residential Collegiate Program Or Non-Collegiate Program, Anton William Cihak Ii
Follow-On Student Pilot Performance Differences Based On Private Pilot Training In A Residential Collegiate Program Or Non-Collegiate Program, Anton William Cihak Ii
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was two-fold: to examine the difference between students who had obtained a private pilot certificate from a residential collegiate flight program and students who had obtained a private pilot certificate from a non-collegiate flight program in a) pilot performance and b) time spent completing commercial and instrument flight courses. A supplemental analysis of the differences in the number of lessons required to complete commercial and instrument flight training was also conducted as a further comparison between pilot groups. This study utilized an ex post facto, effects-based methodology and design with data derived from a university …
Helipad Detection From Satellite Imagery Using Convolutional Neural Networks, David Specht
Helipad Detection From Satellite Imagery Using Convolutional Neural Networks, David Specht
Theses and Dissertations
Location data about U.S. heliports is often inaccurate or nonexistent in the FAA's databases, which leaves pilots and air ambulance operators with inaccurate information about where to find safe landing zones. In the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, Congress required the FAA to collect better information from the helicopter industry under part 157, which covers the construction, alteration, activation and deactivation of airports and heliports. At the same time, there is no requirement to report private helipads to the FAA when constructed or removed, and some public heliports do not have up to date records. This thesis proposes an autonomous system …
An Investigation Of Runway Risks Using A Systems Approach, Mehnaz Hassan
An Investigation Of Runway Risks Using A Systems Approach, Mehnaz Hassan
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to explore and determine if Causal Analysis Based on System Theory ( could divulge differing underlying causes in the Taxiway overflight incident of Air Canada Flight 759 at San Fran cisco International Airport, as compared to traditional investigation methods used by the National Transportation Safety Board ( Investigations tend to focus on trying to establish the probable cause of an accident or incident, and as a result, the systemic components tend to be overlooked which leads to the common underlying causes of the event left unsolved. Adopting a systems approach to assessing runway risks …
Exploring The Effects Of Communication Delays And Personality On Stress During Simulated Space Missions, Shayan Shirshekar
Exploring The Effects Of Communication Delays And Personality On Stress During Simulated Space Missions, Shayan Shirshekar
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of communication delays and personality on stress levels during a simulated spaceflight mission. The study used an experimental, within-groups, repeated-measures design to explore these effects during a simulated Mars mission, specifically: (a) 1–3-second (s) (control) and (b) a 2-minute (min) one-way communication delay expected during the early transit phase of a Mars mission. The Big Five personality traits served as moderating variables and included extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. This study was developed and tested with participants analogous to an astronaut population: healthy individuals possessing or pursuing …
Stereo Camera Calibrations With Optical Flow, Joshua D. Larson
Stereo Camera Calibrations With Optical Flow, Joshua D. Larson
Theses and Dissertations
Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) are currently unable to refuel mid-air due to the large communication delays between their operators and the aircraft. AAR seeks to address this problem by reducing the communication delay to a fast line-of-sight signal between the tanker and the RPA. Current proposals for AAR utilize stereo cameras to estimate where the receiving aircraft is relative to the tanker, but require accurate calibrations for accurate location estimates of the receiver. This paper improves the accuracy of this calibration by improving three components of it: increasing the quantity of intrinsic calibration data with CNN preprocessing, improving the quality …
Air Combat Maneuvering Via Operations Research And Artificial Intelligence Methods, James B. Crumpaker
Air Combat Maneuvering Via Operations Research And Artificial Intelligence Methods, James B. Crumpaker
Theses and Dissertations
Within visual range air combat requires rapid, sequential decision-making to survive and defeat the adversary. Fighter pilots spend years perfecting maneuvers for these types of engagements, yet the emergence of unmanned, autonomous vehicle technologies elicits a natural question - can an autonomous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (AUCAV) be imbued with the necessary artificial intelligence to perform air combat maneuvering tasks independently? We formulate and solve the air combat maneuvering problem to examine this question, developing a Markov decision process model to control an AUCAV seeking to destroy a maneuvering adversarial vehicle. An approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach implementing neural network …
Aircraft Inspection By Multirotor Uav Using Coverage Path Planning, Patrick H. Silberberg
Aircraft Inspection By Multirotor Uav Using Coverage Path Planning, Patrick H. Silberberg
Theses and Dissertations
All military and commercial aircraft must undergo frequent visual inspections in order to identify damage that could pose a danger to safety of flight. Currently, these inspections are primarily conducted by maintenance personnel. Inspectors must scrutinize the aircraft’s surface to find and document defects such as dents, hail damage, broken fasteners, etc.; this is a time consuming, tedious, and hazardous process. The goal of this work is to develop a visual inspection system which can be used by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and to test the feasibility of this system on military aircraft. Using an autonomous system in place …
The Obstacles To The Modernization Of Common Support Equipment, J. Erik Ritschard
The Obstacles To The Modernization Of Common Support Equipment, J. Erik Ritschard
Theses and Dissertations
The current fleet of Common Support Equipment (CSE) is faced with a $2B funding disconnect that threatens 9 of the 12 USAF Core Functions. This research identifies the barriers to efforts to modernize CSE across the sustainment, acquisition, and maintenance communities. Using a qualitative, grounded theory methodology, the responses are explored of interviewed Support Equipment managers responsible for the sustainment and modernization of CSE. Significant barriers to current modernization efforts were exposed, resulting in expensive, duplicative, and unreliable equipment; concluding that the AF must change the way CSE is administrated, funded, and culturally understood to prevent future mission degradation.
Resilient Maintenance Infrastructure: Dynamic Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Supply Chain Disruptions, David W. Wallace Iii
Resilient Maintenance Infrastructure: Dynamic Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Supply Chain Disruptions, David W. Wallace Iii
Theses and Dissertations
Supply chains are facing numerous changes contributing to their increase in complexity and vulnerability to disruptions. Subsequently, decision-makers lack a transparent, generalizable tool to quantify supply chain resilience and assess additional resilience investments. This research facilitates a more profound understanding of the intricacies and interrelation of supply chain nodes and constructs. It integrates the Area under the Curve (AUC) metric to quantify performance or any organizational measure of competitive advantage amid a disruption. Due to its structural resemblance to various organizational platforms, the subset United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 engine repair and supply network is modeled employing discrete-event simulation. …
The Autonomous Attack Aviation Problem, John C. Goodwill
The Autonomous Attack Aviation Problem, John C. Goodwill
Theses and Dissertations
An autonomous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (AUCAV) performing an air-to-ground attack mission must make sequential targeting and routing decisions under uncertainty. We formulate a Markov decision process model of this autonomous attack aviation problem (A3P) and solve it using an approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach. We develop an approximate policy iteration algorithm that implements a least squares temporal difference learning mechanism to solve the A3P. Basis functions are developed and tested for application within the ADP algorithm. The ADP policy is compared to a benchmark policy, the DROP policy, which is determined by repeatedly solving a deterministic orienteering problem as …
Examining Crucial Demographic Trends In General Aviation, Joshua D. Meyer
Examining Crucial Demographic Trends In General Aviation, Joshua D. Meyer
Theses and Dissertations
America's General Aviation sector has witnessed significant demographic shifts since the turn of the century. The number of certified, private pilots, non-fatal aircraft accidents, fatal aircraft accidents, and number of general aviation hours flown are all in decline. Meanwhile, the average age of an American private pilot has increased by several years. All of these factors indicate that the industry is in decline. This study determined via mathematical, linear regression that times relationship to the number of annual, fatal General Aviation accidents and the number of certified private pilots is negative. It also proved that the average age of the …
Display Design To Avoid And Mitigate Limit Cycle Oscillations (Lco) On The F-16c, David J. Feibus
Display Design To Avoid And Mitigate Limit Cycle Oscillations (Lco) On The F-16c, David J. Feibus
Theses and Dissertations
The U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons flying characteristics and flight envelope are dynamic and defined by its external weapon stores configuration. The employment of its munitions at certain speeds can put the F-16 into a flutter-like state in which Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCO) are induced. In LCO, a pilots fine motor control might be hindered, and the aircraft may lose combat effectiveness until flight conditions are reduced. The current research attempted to provide pilots with a predictive feedback display to avoid an LCO-susceptible configuration by increasing their situation awareness about the consequences of employing certain munitions to their flight …
Examining Military Cargo Pilots' Eco-Friendly Flying Intention, Ioan A. Gaitan
Examining Military Cargo Pilots' Eco-Friendly Flying Intention, Ioan A. Gaitan
Theses and Dissertations
The US Air Force is the largest operational energy consumer within the Department of Defense primarily due to aviation fuel use. Military pilots can play important roles in saving aviation fuel by flying aircraft in an eco-friendly manner. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention is the major predictor of behavior. This study tests two models based on TPB for understanding cargo pilots’ eco-friendly intentions when they conduct channel or logistics missions. The study found that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control were significant antecedents to intention in a multiple regression with aggregated scales.
A Simulation Modeling The Effects Of Maintenance Personnel On Aircraft Sortie Generation, Benjamin D. Huffman
A Simulation Modeling The Effects Of Maintenance Personnel On Aircraft Sortie Generation, Benjamin D. Huffman
Theses and Dissertations
Commanders and wargamers lack adequate tools to quickly determine the number of mission-capable (MC) aircraft and number of achievable sorties to support wargames and exercises. Even less understood is the impact of available maintenance personnel on sortie generation. The Expected-Number-of-In-Game-Mission-capable Aircraft (ENIGMA) simulation was recently developed to calculate the number of MC aircraft and number of sorties own accounting for the number and type of aircraft, scheduled sorties, mean-time-between-failure (MTBF), and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR). ENIGMA is extended by replacing the MTTR input with functions derived from actual numbers and types of maintenance personnel available. Functions in the form of response surface …