Issues related to line-oriented flight training

The use of a training simulator along with carefully structured, detailed, line trip scenarios was envisioned by NASA as a means of providing a controllable, repeatable way to observe line crews in a highly realistic simulation of their working environment and obtain better understanding operationally significant human factors problems and issues. Relevant research done by the agency and the results of full-mission simulation scenarios revealed potential implications for flight training. Aspects to be considered in creating training programs closely related to the actual line environment with a total crew application in real world incident experiences include: (1) operational, environmental, equipment, and crew problems in scenario design; (2) real time line oriented flight training operation; (3) performance assessment and debriefing; (4) instructor qualification and training; and (5) other issues such as ub un initial, transition, and upgrade training; procedures developent and evaluation, and equipment evaluation

Guidelines for line-oriented flight training, volume 2

Current approaches to line-oriented flight training used by six American airlines are described. This recurrent training methodology makes use of a full-crew and full-mission simulation to teach and assess resource management skills, but does not necessarily fulfill requirements for the training and manipulation of all skills

Guidelines for Line-Oriented Flight Training, Volume 1

Line-Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) is a developing training technology which synthesizes high-fidelity aircraft simulation and high-fidelity line-operations simulation to provide realistic, dynamic pilot training in a simulated line environment. LOFT is an augmentation of existing pilot training which concentrates upon command, leadership, and resource management skills. This report, based on an NASA/Industry workshop held in January, 1981, is designed to serve as a handbook for LOFT users. In addition to providing background information, guidelines are presented for designing LOFT scenarios, conducting real-time LOFT operations, pilot debriefing, and instructor qualification and training. The final chapter addressed other uses of LOFT and line-operations (or full-mission) simulation

Ultra Bright LED Light Injection Calibration System for MINOS

We describe here a proposal for a light injection calibration system for the MINOS detectors based on ultra bright blue LEDs as the light source. We have shown that these LEDs are bright enough to span over two orders of magnitude in light intensity, commensurate with that expected in a single scintillator strip in the MINOS neutrino detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, Submitted to NI

Floquet engineering of correlated tunneling in the Bose-Hubbard model with ultracold atoms

We report on the experimental implementation of tunable occupation-dependent tunneling in a Bose-Hubbard system of ultracold atoms via time-periodic modulation of the on-site interaction energy. The tunneling rate is inferred from a time-resolved measurement of the lattice site occupation after a quantum quench. We demonstrate coherent control of the tunneling dynamics in the correlated many-body system, including full suppression of tunneling as predicted within the framework of Floquet theory. We find that the tunneling rate explicitly depends on the atom number difference in neighboring lattice sites. Our results may open up ways to realize artificial gauge fields that feature density dependence with ultracold atoms.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

An evaluation of head-up displays in civil transport operations

To determine the advantages and disadvantages of head-up displays (HUD) in civil transport approach and landing operations, an operational evaluation was conducted on the flight simulator for advanced aircraft at Ames. A non-conformal HUD concept which contained raw data and Flight Director command information, and a conformal, flight path HUD concept was designed to permit terminal area maneuvering, intercept, final approach, flare, and landing operations. Twelve B-727 line pilots (Captains) flew a series of precision and non-precision approaches under a variety of environmental and operational conditions, including wind shear, turbulence and low ceilings and visibilities. A preliminary comparison of various system and pilot performance measures as a function of display type (Flight Director HUD, Flight Path HUD, or No HUD) indicates improvements in precision and accuracy of aircraft flight path control when using the HUDs. The results also demonstrated some potentially unique advantages of a flight path HUD during non-precision approaches

Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia Is Associated with a Novel Mutation in the Mitochondrial tRNA(Asn) Gene

Chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO) is caused by a decreased oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) activity due to large-scale deletions of the mitochondrial genome in 50 % of the patients. The deletions encompass structural OXPHOS genes as well as tRNA genes, required for their expression so that the pathogenesis could be due to the deleted OXPHOS subunits or to an impaired mitochondrial translation. We have analyzed the mitochondrial genome of a patient presenting with CPEO for single base substitutions and discovered a novel heteroplasmic mutation in the tRNAAsn gene at position 5692 that converts a highly conserved adenine into a guanine. This mutation is unique because it is located at the transition of the anticodon loop to the anticodon stem and it leads to an additional base pair, thus reducing the number of loop-forming nucleotides from seven to five. Our findings suggest that CPEO can be caused by a single base substition in a mitochondrial tRNA gene so that the mitochondrial protein synthesis becomes the rate limiting step in OXPHOS fidelity

Crew factors in flight operations. Part 3: The operational significance of exposure to short-haul air transport operations

Excessive flightcrew fatigue has potentially serious safety consequences. Laboratory studies have implicated fatigue as a causal factor associated with varying levels of performance deterioration depending on the amount of fatigue and the type of measure utilized in assessing performance. These studies have been of limited utility because of the difficulty of relating laboratory task performance to the demands associated with the operation of a complex aircraft. The performance of 20 volunteer twin-jet transport crews is examined in a full-mission simulator scenario that included most aspects of an actual line operation. The scenario included both routine flight operations and an unexpected mechanical abnormality which resulted in a high level of crew workload. Half of the crews flew the simulation within two to three hours after completing a three-day, high-density, short-haul duty cycle (Post-Duty condition). The other half flew the scenario after a minimum of three days off duty (Pre-Duty) condition). The results revealed that, not surprisingly, Post-Duty crews were significantly more fatigued than Pre-Duty crews. However, a somewhat counter-intuitive pattern of results emerged on the crew performancemeasures. In general, the performance of Post-Duty crews was significantly better than that of Pre-Duty crews, as rated by an expert observer on a number of dimensions relevant to flight safety. Analyses of the flightcrew communication patterns revealed that Post-Duty crews communicated significantly more overall, suggesting, as has previous research, that communication is a good predictor of overall crew performance

An Operational evaluation of head up displays for civil transport operations. NASA/FAA phase 3 report

The advantages and disadvantages of head-up displays (HUDs) in commercial jet transport approach and landing operations was evaluated. Ten airline captains currently qualified in the B-727 aircraft flew a series of instrument landing system (ILS) and nonprecision approaches in a motion base simulator using both a flight director HUD concept and a flightpath HUD concept as well as conventional head-down instruments under a variety of environmental and operational conditions to assess: (1) the potential benefits of these HUDs in airline operations; (2) problems which might be associated with their use; and (3) flight crew training requirements and flight crew operating procedures suitable for use with the HUDs. Results are presented in terms of objective simulator based performance measures, subject pilot opinion and rating data, and observer data