Aviation Commons^™

Instructional Fidelity In Virtual Flight: Applying A Structured Learning Model For Vr-Based Pilot Training, Lindsay Gouedy, Bryce Jarrell, Mary Fendley, Brandon Wolf

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

As immersive training technologies reshape the future of aviation education, this study explores the impact of integrating Virtual Reality (VR) into a structured instructional model for B-52 pilot training. With the development and implementation of the I-BUFF (Integrated B-52 Unit Flight Familiarization) model, an innovative framework built upon the 4C/ID (Four Component Instructional Design) and SEEV (Salience, Effort, Expectancy, Value) models, this research evaluates whether structured VR environments improve training transfer and accelerate task proficiency for in-air refueling tasks. A sample of 233 pilot trainees was assessed across three groups: traditional training (non-VR unstructured), VR semi-structured, and VR fully structured …

Evaluation Of Tactile Cueing Embedded In An Aviation Headset On Pilot Altitude Control, Nicholas D. Wilson, Jessica Van Bree, Matthew Cleveland, Sunny Charakuru, Thomas Petros, Richard Ferraro, Kouhyar Tavakolian

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study evaluated the effectiveness of tactile cueing integrated into a pilot’s headset on pilot altitude control during simulated instrument conditions. Pilots typically rely on visual and auditory inputs to maintain situational awareness, but in high-workload or instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), these channels can become overloaded. One underutilized alternative for alerting is a tactile cueing apparatus. Using an X-Plane simulation of a Piper Archer equipped with a G-1000 avionics suite, 39 FAA-certified pilots flew two precision approaches. The experimental group (n = 20) received haptic cues via ear seal-embedded tactors when deviating from assigned altitude or glideslope. The control group …

Mental Health And Willingness To Seek Mental Health Aid In Aviation, Andrew Lynch, Giacomo Tropeano, Trenton Paige Plogher, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

No relationship was found between aviation student mental health status and willingness to seek mental health aid; there was no difference in willingness to seek help between pilots and non-pilots.

Assessing The English Language Needs Of Student Pilots: A Comprehensive Analysis For Effective Aviation English Training, Triyani Rps Dewi, Lilis Kurnianingsih

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This research aims to identify the English language material needs for pilot students at the Indonesian Civil Aviation Polytechnic in order to improve communication skills that are essential for flight safety and operational effectiveness. In data collection, the researcher distributed questionnaires to students and conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving students, flight instructors, English lecturers, and experienced pilots. The research results show that pilot students need two main skills in English learning. First, listening skills, especially in understanding instructions from ATC. Second, speaking skills used to respond to ATC instructions and to make requests or ask for information from …

Is Declined Cognitive Function Predictive For Fatal Accidents Involving Aging Pilots?, Douglas D. Boyd, Alan J. Stolzer

Publications

Civil aviation comprises airlines/charters and general aviation (GA). Currently, airlines are experiencing a pilot shortage, partly reflecting scheduled retirements mandatory for airline (but not GA) pilots aged 65 years, fueling a debate as to whether the retirement age should be increased. Herein, using 16–40 years-of-age aviators as a reference, we determined whether GA pilots aged 60+ years (i) incurred an elevated accident rate, employing, for the first time, age-tiered flight time as a measure of risk exposure and (ii) carried an excess risk for cognitive deficiency-related fatal accidents. Methods. Airplane accidents (2002–2016) involving Class 3 medical certificated pilots were per …

Situation Awareness Assessment Of Enhanced Stable Approach Flight Instrument Displays, David J. Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Through the year 2022, runway-related events, including excursions, abnormal runway contact, and runway undershoot and overshoot, were the third leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents. Principal to these runway-related accidents was the presence of an unstable approach. Pilots currently must depend on the timely recall of stable approach criteria stored in long-term memory, application of those criteria against current flight conditions, perception and cognition of deviation from those criteria, and determination of potential courses of action. Such recall is fallible, and challenges to perception and cognition are ever-present.

This study examined whether the presentation of stable approach criteria boundaries and …

Faa Medical Reform, Dana Rose

Honors Projects

This project investigates the challenges and implications of obtaining medical certification for pilots with a history of childhood misdiagnoses, focusing on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Misdiagnoses in childhood can lead to significant obstacles in the aviation industry's medical certification process, posing unique hurdles for aspiring pilots. The study examines the current FAA guidelines and procedures for medical certification, particularly the evaluation requirements for individuals with ADHD. It also explores common challenges faced by pilots, the effects of childhood misdiagnoses on their eligibility, and the impact of the FAA's ADHD evaluation process.

Through interviews with Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs), this project identifies …

Training Methods Research Opportunities For A Pilot Workforce In Transition: A Literature Review, James Birdsong, Kurt L. Reesman

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Over the next 15 years, 50% of the U.S. commercial air carrier workforce will retire, making way for younger pilots from Generations Y and Z. This review identifies the emerging pilot workforce and training methods, including emerging technologies and learning methods, as well as research gaps.

The Impact Of Flight On Cabin Crew Wellness: A Literature Review, Ashleigh Roderick

Senior Honors Theses

Since its conception in 1903, aviation has captivated the attention of people across the globe and has been utilized in many sectors of society. Aviation related occupations pose a unique set of risks to those working in the field, health risks being one of the most prominent. Cancer, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal ailments, and genetic damage have all been studied as potential consequences of working in the aviation industry, as some studies indicate a higher prevalence of these issues in aviation employees. Apart from physiological issues, mental health issues have also been observed in those working in aviation. Mental health issues …

In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots Of Early Aviation, Fred Erisman

Purdue Studies in Aeronautics and Astronautics

Amelia Earhart’s prominence in American aviation during the 1930s obscures a crucial point: she was but one of a closely knit community of women pilots. Although the women were well known in the profession and widely publicized in the press at the time, they are largely overlooked today. Like Earhart, they wrote extensively about aviation and women’s causes, producing an absorbing record of the life of women fliers during the emergence and peak of the Golden Age of Aviation (1925–1940). Earhart and her contemporaries, however, were only the most recent in a long line of women pilots whose activities reached …

Predicting Pilot Misperception Of Runway Excursion Risk Through Machine Learning Algorithms Of Recorded Flight Data, Edwin Vincent Odisho Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The research used predictive models to determine pilot misperception of runway excursion risk associated with unstable approaches. The Federal Aviation Administration defined runway excursion as a veer-off or overrun of the runway surface. The Federal Aviation Administration also defined a stable approach as an aircraft meeting the following criteria: (a) on target approach airspeed, (b) correct attitude, (c) landing configuration, (d) nominal descent angle/rate, and (e) on a straight flight path to the runway touchdown zone. Continuing an unstable approach to landing was defined as Unstable Approach Risk Misperception in this research. A review of the literature revealed that an …

Launching Dreams: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Describing What It Means To Be An Underrepresented Student In A Collegiate Aviation Program, James P. Molloy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore and describe what it means to be an underrepresented student in a collegiate professional pilot degree program. The central research question for this study was: What does it mean to be an underrepresented student in a collegiate professional pilot degree program? The four sub-questions were: (a) What influence do cognitive-person attributes have on meaning that is experienced and described by the underrepresented aviation student?, (b) What influence do gender and race have on meaning that is experienced and described by underrepresented aviation student?, (c) What influence does the contextual environment …

Speech Interfaces And Pilot Performance: A Meta-Analysis, Kenneth A. Ward

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

As the aviation industry modernizes, new technology and interfaces must support growing aircraft complexity without increasing pilot workload. Natural language processing presents just such a simple and intuitive interface, yet the performance implications for use by pilots remain unknown. A meta-analysis was conducted to understand performance effects of using speech and voice interfaces in a series of pilot task analogs. The inclusion criteria selected studies that involved participants performing a demanding primary task, such as driving, while interacting with a vehicle system to enter numbers, dial radios, or enter a navigation destination. Compared to manual system interfaces, voice interfaces reduced …

A Trust In Air Traffic Controllers (T-Atc) Scale, Bradley S. Baugh, Scott R. Winter

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Trust is a concept that cannot be easily measured. Further, trust is domain-specific. Trust is a foundational aspect of safe flight operations in the National Airspace System, and while there has been much attention to trust in teams and trust in automation, there appears to be a gap in knowledge of a pilot’s trust in air traffic controllers. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Trust in Air Traffic Controllers (T-ATC) scale, a summative scale to measure a pilot’s trust in air traffic controllers. This study followed a three-step methodology. In steps one and two, words …

Pilot Perceptions On Impact Of Crew Rest Regulations On Safety And Fatigue, Lukas Rudari, Mary E. Johnson, Robert C. Geske, Lauren A. Sperlak

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The risk of fatigue on pilot performance and safety is well recognized in aviation. In response to increased safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration addressed fatigue risk for passenger airline pilots in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 117, which included accommodations to address fatigue related risk-factors such as circadian rhythm and the phenomenon commonly described as jet-lag. The rule became effective in January 2014. A survey was conducted in March and April of 2014 to better understand pilot perceptions of the new Part 117 rule. This study analyzed survey responses from 92 self-identified pilots to determine the effect …

A Trustworthiness Of Commercial Airline Pilots (T-Cap) Scale For American Consumers, Stephen C. Rice, Rian Mehta, Scott Winter, Korhan Oyman

Publications

The purpose of this study was to create a Trustworthiness of Commercial Airline Pilots (T-CAP) scale that could be used with American participants. Previous research (Rice, Mehta, Steelman, & Winter, 2014) created a similar scale that may be used with Indian participants. However, due to cultural differences, it was necessary to recreate an instrument that could be used with American consumers. In fact, the scale developed by American participants did differ significantly, both in terms of length and items to measure trustworthiness of commercial pilots. Participants were used in the entire process of creating the scale, including item generation and …

The Effect Of An Unconscious Auditory Stimulus On Pilot Performance Under Varying Instrument Flying Conditions, Christina Eleni Christakou

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Human error remains a significant contributing factor with respect to accidents in civil air transportation. It is therefore crucial to establish avenues by which performance on the flightdeck can be enhanced under conditions of distress. The purpose of this study was to examine whether an unconscious auditory stimulus (UAS) could enhance pilot performance under varying instrument flight (IFR) conditions on the aircraft flightdeck. Forty IFR student pilots underwent two eight-minute simulated flights, whereupon they were presented with different IFR weather conditions. During the trial, the experimental group listened to a UAS, whereas the control group listened to white noise (WN). …

The Effect Of Cockpit Noise On Aircraft Pilot Psychomotor Performance, Kelechi (Kc) Nwabeke

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of cockpit noise on aircraft pilot psychomotor performance on a simulated tracking task. The performance of thirty-two participants was measured on a vertical and horizontal tracking task. In the control group, eight participants were used in a quiet condition. In the experimental group, eight participants were exposed to low intensity cockpit noise (50 dBA), eight participants were exposed to medium intensity cockpit noise (60 dBA) and eight participants were expose to high intensity cockpit noise (70 dBA). The performance of the control and experimental groups was measured in an advanced …

Low Level Alcohol And Its Residual Effect On A Pilot's Threshold For Detecting Angular Motion, Regina G. Bolinger

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to examine a pilot's sensitivity to a change in angular motion after alcohol ingestion and determine the duration of effect after the time the blood alcohol content (BAC) reached zero. An earlier study determined that a pilot's threshold for detecting angular motion was affected by 30% with low doses of alcohol ingestion. An important question remaining is whether the pilot's sensitivity to angular motion will continue to be significantly affected after the time BAC reaches zero. Twelve instrument-rated pilots flew a partial panel rotating simulator under an in-flight scenario, and thresholds were measured before …

Standardized Checklists Versus Variable Checklist: An Evaluation In A Light Twin Simulator, Veronica Terese Cote

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to determine if a checklist that varied by sequence would enable the pilot to detect potential errors more easily than those who used an unchanging checklist. A flight hour based stratified sample of pilots were randomly divided into two groups and flew a series of eight flights in a light twin aircraft simulator. The control group used the same checklist for each trial; the experimental group used a checklist that covered the same items but varied in sequence for each trial. Faults were introduced in the last two trials. The number of faults discovered …