Flight experience and executive functions predict unlike professional pilots who are limited by the FAA's age rule, no age limit is defined in general aviation (GA)

Unlike professional pilots who are limited by the FAA's age rule, no age limit is defined in general aviation (GA). Some studies revealed significant aging issues on accident rates but these results are criticized. Our overall goal is to study how the effect of age on executive functions (EFs), high level cognitive abilities, impacts on the flying performance in GA pilots. This study relies on three components: EFs assessment, pilot characteristics (age, flight experience), and the navigation performance on a flight simulator. The results showed that contrary to age, reasoning, working memory (WM) and total flight experience were predictive of the flight performance. These results suggest that "cognitive age", derived in this study by the cognitive evaluation, is a better mean than "chronological age" consideration to predict the ability to pilot, in particular because of the inter-individual variability of aging impact and the beneficial effect of the flight experience

Capital Flight and Economic Performance

Capital flight aggravates resource constraints and contributes to undermine long-term economic growth. Counterfactual calculations on the Philippines suggest that capital flight contributed to lower the quality of long-term economic growth. Sustained capital flight over three decades means that capital flight had a role for the Philippines to lose the opportunities to achieve economic takeoff. Unless decisive policy actions are taken up to address enduring capital flight and manage the macroeconomy more effectively, the Philippines remains caught in the perpetuity of crises, its economy hollowed-out, the people trapped in poverty, and once again, the country is frustrated from realizing a takeoff

Space shuttle orbiter reusable surface insulation flight results

The first five flights of the orbiter Columbia provided the initial data required to certify the operational performance of the reusable surface insulation (RSI) thermal protection system (TPS). The flight performance characteristics of the RIS TPS are discussed. The discussion is based primarily on postflight inspections and postflight interpretation of the flight instrumentation. TPS modifications of the future orbiters (OV-099, 103, and subs) are also discussed

B747/JT9D flight loads and their effect on engine running clearances and performance deterioration; BCAC NAIL/P and WA JT9D engine diagnostics programs

Flight loads on the 747 propulsion system and resulting JT9D blade to outer airseal running clearances during representative acceptance flight and revenue flight sequences were measured. The resulting rub induced clearance changes, and engine performance changes were then analyzed to validate and refine the JT9D-7A short term performance deterioration model

Resolution of a paradox: Hummingbird flight at high elevation does not come without a cost

Flight at high elevation is energetically demanding because of parallel reductions in air density and oxygen availability. The hovering flight of hummingbirds is one of the most energetically expensive forms of animal locomotion, but hummingbirds are nonetheless abundant at high elevations throughout the Americas. Two mechanisms enhance aerodynamic performance in high-elevation hummingbirds: increase in wing size and wing stroke amplitude during hovering. How do these changes in morphology, kinematics, and physical properties of air combine to influence the aerodynamic power requirements of flight across elevations? Here, we present data on the flight performance of 43 Andean hummingbird species as well as a 76-taxon multilocus molecular phylogeny that served as the historical framework for comparative analyses. Along a 4,000-m elevational transect, hummingbird body mass increased systematically, placing further aerodynamic demands on high-elevation taxa. However, we found that the minimum power requirements for hovering flight remain constant with respect to elevation because hummingbirds compensate sufficiently through increases in wing size and stroke amplitude. Thus, high-elevation hummingbirds are not limited in their capacity for hovering flight despite the challenges imposed by hypobaric environments. Other flight modes including vertical ascent and fast forward flight are more mechanically and energetically demanding, and we accordingly also tested for the maximum power available to hummingbirds by using a load-lifting assay. In contrast to hovering, excess power availability decreased substantially across elevations, thereby reducing the biomechanical potential for more complex flight such as competitive and escape maneuvers

Coupled flight dynamics and CFD - demonstration for helicopters in shipborne environment

The development of high-performance computing and computational fluid dynamics methods have evolved to the point where it is possible to simulate complete helicopter configurations with good accuracy. Computational fluid dynamics methods have also been applied to problems such as rotor/fuselage and main/tail rotor interactions, performance studies in hover and forward flight, rotor design, and so on. The GOAHEAD project is a good example of a coordinated effort to validate computational fluid dynamics for complex helicopter configurations. Nevertheless, current efforts are limited to steady flight and focus mainly on expanding the edges of the flight envelope. The present work tackles the problem of simulating manoeuvring flight in a computational fluid dynamics environment by integrating a moving grid method and the helicopter flight mechanics solver with computational fluid dynamics. After a discussion of previous works carried out on the subject and a description of the methods used, validation of the computational fluid dynamics for ship airwake flow and rotorcraft flight at low advance ratio are presented. Finally, the results obtained for manoeuvring flight cases are presented and discussed

Surveyor spacecraft system - Surveyor 6 flight performance Final report

Surveyor 6 spacecraft flight performance characteristics, including data on television equipment, alpha scattering experiment, and powered flight translatio

SSME propulsion performance reconstruction techniques

In view of the complex flight operation of the Space Shuttle propulsion system together with an expected launch rate increase, the flight performance reconstruction process needs to be performed by automated computer programs. These programs must have the capability to quickly and reliably determine the true behavior of the various components of the propulsion system. For the flight reconstruction, measured values from the solid rocket motors, liquid engines, and trajectory are appraised through the Kalman filter technique to identify the most likely flight propulsion performance. A more detailed data collection program for the single SSME engine captive test firing evaluation is scheduled for startup in September of 1988. Engine performance evaluation for the captive test firing requires a reconstruction process that is similar to the process that is used for the flight reconstruction. Analytical tools that may be used to reconstruct a propulsion system's true performance under flight and/or test conditions are described

AFTI/F-16 digital flight control system experience

The Advanced Flighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 program is investigating the integration of emerging technologies into an advanced fighter aircraft. The three major technologies involved are the triplex digital flight control system; decoupled aircraft flight control; and integration of avionics, pilot displays, and flight control. In addition to investigating improvements in fighter performance, the AFTI/F-16 program provides a look at generic problems facing highly integrated, flight-crucial digital controls. An overview of the AFTI/F-16 systems is followed by a summary of flight test experience and recommendations