Design support for constructing pilot training programmes

Deciding how to construct a training programme or a training exercise, and especially what and how training media and methods should be selected to deliver effective and efficient training is an ongoing endeavour that preoccupies training analysts and designers alike. There are many interactions and dependencies that one has to take into consideration when making decisions, about cost, safety, or interactions between various components of a training system (e.g. between various types of media; between media and methods; between media, methods and trainees) to produce the desired outcome. The focus of this PhD research is to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by decision-makers within the military fast-jet training domain in constructing the training and, further, to develop solutions that support the decision-making effort. A significant challenge faced by decision-makers in constructing training programmes, identified through this research, is the ever increasing amount of information that they need to have at their disposal to enable fully informed decision-making and the lack of methods and tools to facilitate the management and analysis of this information. This research specifically investigated the problem of media selection to construct the training and developed a series of concept solutions to support differentiation between training media, assessment of trainees previous experiences, management of TNA outputs, selection of instructional methods and understanding of the cognitive relationship between media, method and trainee. The thesis firstly introduces the problem to be addressed; the research context and research questions set to be answered. This research, sponsored by Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSERC) and BAE Systems, is preceded by another BAE Systems funded research project (the Training Optimisation Case Study), which provided the background for the work presented in this thesis. Secondly, it reviews the literature relevant to the subject matter to understand the current state of knowledge in the area of: UK RAF training programmes construction and training media selection; assessment of competencies; impact of media and method on learning; development of decision making support systems; and construction and management of knowledge. The main part of the work presented in this thesis is the development of a series of support solutions to aid the decision-making process of construction of UK fast-jet pilot training. These include: TNA output Analysis (ToA) tool; Trainee Contextual Proficiency Profile (TCPP) tool; Training Media Classification Framework; models that map the cognitive relationship between media, method and trainee, and a unified Framework of Selection of Instructional Process alongside a novel approach towards training media selection. This research work was initially scoped through an exploratory study (a case study) into the domain area, followed by requirements elicitation. This part of research helped at identifying the issues within the problem area and in defining the research questions. The TCPP and ToA were verified through two case studies and presented alongside the rest of the research to the customer (BAE Systems) that gave positive feedback on the research outcomes

Vertical flight training: An overview of training and flight simulator technology with emphasis on rotary-wing requirements

The principal purpose of this publication is to provide a broad overview of the technology that is relevant to the design of aviation training systems and of the techniques applicable to the development, use, and evaluation of those systems. The issues addressed in our 11 chapters are, for the most part, those that would be expected to surface in any informed discussion of the major characterizing elements of aviation training systems. Indeed, many of the same facets of vertical-flight training discussed were recognized and, to some extent, dealt with at the 1991 NASA/FAA Helicopter Simulator Workshop. These generic topics are essential to a sound understanding of training and training systems, and they quite properly form the basis of any attempt to systematize the development and evaluation of more effective, more efficient, more productive, and more economical approaches to aircrew training. Individual chapters address the following topics: an overview of the vertical flight industry: the source of training requirements; training and training schools: meeting current requirements; training systems design and development; transfer of training and cost-effectiveness; the military quest for flight training effectiveness; alternative training systems; training device manufacturing; simulator aero model implementation; simulation validation in the frequency domain; cockpit motion in helicopter simulation; and visual space perception in flight simulators

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 323)

This bibliography lists 125 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during April, 1989. Subject coverage includes; aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

NASA/FAA helicopter simulator workshop

A workshop was convened by the FAA and NASA for the purpose of providing a forum at which leading designers, manufacturers, and users of helicopter simulators could initiate and participate in a development process that would facilitate the formulation of qualification standards by the regulatory agency. Formal papers were presented, special topics were discussed in breakout sessions, and a draft FAA advisory circular defining specifications for helicopter simulators was presented and discussed. A working group of volunteers was formed to work with the National Simulator Program Office to develop a final version of the circular. The workshop attracted 90 individuals from a constituency of simulator manufacturers, training organizations, the military, civil regulators, research scientists, and five foreign countries

Field Study for Remote Sensing: An instructor's manual

The need for and value of field work (surface truthing) in the verification of image identification from high atitude infrared and multispectral space sensor images are discussed in this handbook which presents guidelines for developing instructional and research procedures in remote sensing of the environment

First Annual Workshop on Space Operations Automation and Robotics (SOAR 87)

Several topics relative to automation and robotics technology are discussed. Automation of checkout, ground support, and logistics; automated software development; man-machine interfaces; neural networks; systems engineering and distributed/parallel processing architectures; and artificial intelligence/expert systems are among the topics covered

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography With Indexes

In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract

Conceptualization and Application of Deep Learning and Applied Statistics for Flight Plan Recommendation

The Air Forces Pilot Training Next (PTN) program seeks a more efficient pilot training environment emphasizing the use of virtual reality flight simulators alongside periodic real aircraft experience. The PTN program wants to accelerate the training pace and progress in undergraduate pilot training compared to traditional undergraduate pilot training. Currently, instructor pilots spend excessive time planning and scheduling flights. This research focuses on methods to auto-generate the planning of in-flight events using hybrid filtering and deep learning techniques. The resulting approach captures temporal trends of user-specific and program-wide student performance to recommend a feasible set of graded flight events for evaluation in a student’s next training exercise to improve their progress toward fully qualified status

Use of Multivariate Techniques to Validate and Improved the Current USAF Pilot Candidate Selection Model

The Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) seeks to ensure the highest possible probability of success at UPT. PCSM applies regression weights to a candidate\u27s Air Force Officer Qualification Test (AFOQT) Pilot composite score, self-reported flying hours, and five Basic Attributes Test (BAT) score composites. PCSM scores range between 0 and 99 and is interpreted as a candidate\u27s probability of passing UPT. The goal of this study is to apply multivariate data analysis techniques to validate PCSM and determine appropriate changes to the model\u27s weights. Performance of the updated weights is compared to the current PCSM model via Receiver Operating Curves (ROC). In addition, two independent models are developed using multi-layer perceptron neural networks and discriminant analysis. Both linear and logistic regression is used to investigate possible updates to PCSM\u27s current linear regression weights. An independent test set is used to estimate the generalized performance of the regressions and independent models. Validation of the current PCSM model demonstrated in the first phase of this research is enhanced by the fact that PCSM outperforms all other models developed in the research