An experimental program was conducted with the pendular platform of the Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Clinic, which was developed for the investigation of disturbances of the equilibrium. The equilibrium sense of the glider pilot was emphasized. Results are presented

Eikemeier, K. D.

Melzig, H. D.

Reicke, N.

Schmidt, W.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

N79-27074
BALANCE TRAINING OF THE EQUILIBRIUM ORGAN AND ITS
EFFECT ON FLIGHT STRATEGY
Eikemeier*%§ *K. -D. , H. -D. Melzig ,
N. Reicke #, W. Schmidt #
%
'_ Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
§ Akademische Fliegergruppe Hannover
* DFVLR, Institut fur Flugmechanik, Braunschweig
INTRODUCTION
It is known that sailors, rope dancers, ballet dancers and astronauts have
trained their sense of equilibrium.
The question is whether the glider pilot by his long-duration circling in
thermals has also acquired a training of his equilibrium sense. More than
the motor pilot with his long straight flights, the glider pilot's equilibrium
sense is severely taxed by the simultaneously performed circling and steady ob-
serving of instruments and the aerial region.
To investigate this, an experimental program was conducted with the pendu-
far platform of the Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Clinic, which was developed for the
investigation of disturbances of the equilibrium.
EXPERIMENT i
The test person was standing upright and free on the pendular platform
which was oscillating in a sinusoidal pattern around the_vertical axis with
various angular accelerations from 17 to 520 degrees/sec 2.
The arms were crossed over the chest, the eyes blindfolded and the ears
covered with noise protection capsules to eliminate the visual and acoustic
spatial orientation (fig. i).
The oscillation of the body, which deviates from the oscillation of the
platform due to the stato-motoric counter regulation, was picked up by a po-
tentiometer and recorded to an oscillograph, together with the signal from the
oscillation of the platform.
The principle of measurement is based on the physiological and neuro-
anatomical _rocess. The nervus vestlbularis from the equilibrium organ
377
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cooperates with the nerves from eyes, cerebellum, tractus vestibulospinalis
and reflection circuits from the muscle and ligament spindle, for instance
from neck and legs (fig. 2).
RESULTS 1
The first experiment investigated short-term training. It lasted for 20
minutes with an angular acceleration of 415 degrees/set2. The amplitude of the
body oscillation decreased in the beginning and increased again later on
(fig. 3). Since the absolute height of the amplitude is different due to the
different mass of inertia of the test persons, only the relative changes were
correlated.
The enveloping curves of i0 glider pilots were compared by setting the
minima to a base line (fig. 4).
The training's effect, which is the adaptation of the test person to the
oscillating angular acceleration, can be seen from the envelope. It decreases
steeply in the first minutes, flattens off later and arrives at its minimum
after about 14 minutes. Thereafter it increases again steeply and the test
person arrives at his fall-down threshold where he avoids falling bv gripping
hold with his hands.
The reason for the flattening is the overlapping of muscle and other
fatigue over the training effect.
In the first minutes we see a linear decrease of the envelope which would
reach a training maximum of 100% after 4,3 _ I minutes.
CONCLUSIONS 1
For the practice we can draw the following conclusions:
.
About 4,3 t 1 minutes after entrance in a thermal in circling flight, the
pilot has reached the maximum adaptation of his equilibrium sense to the
changing accelerations.
For i0 minutes more we see an optimal disposition to changing accelerations.
During this time he should be capable of utilizing the thermal best.
Later fatigue effects are superimposing and it should be recommended that
he flies straight for _h[le to recover.
.
The glider student with 5 minute start and landing flights does not acquire
reasonable training of his equilibrium to acceleration. To give him this
training, the instructor of glider students should include thermal flights
at an early stage.
3. We know from accident statistics that prior to outfield landings the pilot
tries to work thermals by performing steep turns in low altitude. At that
378
l V '0
time his equilibrium sense by the long-duration straight flight is dis-
oriented when he suddenly enters curved flight conditions, and he needs
about 4 minutes again to adapt to the changing accelerations.
After he has begun circling, the pilot imagines that the speed of his
straight flight still exists and he begins to pull for optimum ascent
speed. In reality by turbulent air and by changing lift the critical speed
is already reached.
This phenomenon can be studied in an acceleration disorientation chamber in
which the pilot is moving in a circular path while he is accelerated in
different directions.
EXPERIMENT 2
In the second experiment the long-term training effect was investigated on
35 glider pilots. The test person was placed on a scale, standing once on the
tips of the toes rand once on the heels (fig. 5). Eyes and ears were covered
again. The attempts to regulate the equilibrium caused a change in force on
the scale which was recorded by means of force transducers on an oscillograph
(fig. 6).
After this test the pilot was placed on the pendular platform for 24
minutes. The eyes had to be opened and closed according to a predetermined
scheme (fig. 7). The angular acceleration was raised step by step with breaks
of the oscillations between each change. After this oscillating test the
pilot was placed on the scale again.
RESULTS 2
It can be seen that amplitude and frequency have decreased compared to the
test before the training on the pendulum (fig. 8).
The effect of training correlates with the number of flight hours. All
test persons (glider pilots and non-pilots) had a training effect of 20%
(fig. 9). After 30 hours a steep increase begins which reaches 70% at 60
hours. Thereafter saturation begins which reaches 95% after 160 hours.
Including the flight experience by plotting the training effect against the
total flight hours/years of flying changes the effect. Again the increase
starts after 30 hours/year but is much steeper, reaching 80% after 60 hour_ I
year (fig. 10). It can be deduced from these results that a glider pilot who
does not fly more than 30 hours per year does not add any gain to his training.
Before starting cross country flight at the beginning of the season it would
be useful to build up training with 30 flight hours as soon as possible.
After 16 i 4 years the pilot has arrived at his maximum training. In the
investigated group the Dilots began their instruction in flying with 19 i 4
years of age. The effect of training decreases again after 35 i 4 years of age
(figs. ll and 12). Similar results are known from other disciplines of sports.
379
CONCLUSIONS2
The question to be answeredafter knowingthese results waswhether it is
possible to train the glider pilot on the pendular platform prior to beginning
a season. This would be advantageousfor the improvementof safety for every-
body and of successfor the contestants.
Up to nowwehave only subjective reports from pilots, whofelt a positive
influence of sucha training.
In the summarywecan conclude from the secondexperiment that the effect
of training is dependantupon
i. Age
2. Numberof years flying
3. Flight hours
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cotton, F.S.: Thecenter of gravity in man.
Anthropology18 (1934) 401-405. Amer.Journ. of Physical
Eikemeier, K. -D.; Schmidt, W.; Reicke, N.: Thermikkreisemussennicht
zumProblemwerden. Aerokurier, Oct. 1978.
Jongkees,L.B.W.: Physiologie und Pathophysiologie desVestibularorganes.
Arch. klin. exp. Ohr-, Nas.- u. Kehlk.-Heilk. 194 (1969) i - ii0.
LyndonB. JohnsonSpaceCenter: TheProceedingsof the skylab life
sciences symposium.Vol. i and 2, JSC-09275,NASATMX-58154,Nov. 1974.
Osterhammel,P.; Terkildsen, K.; Zilstorff, K.: Vestibular habituation
in ballet dancers. Acta oto laryng. 65 (1968), 527 - 532.
Reicke, N.: Der Pendel-Plattform-Test. Eine neueUntersuchungsmethode
bei Gleichgewichtsgestorten. Fortschr. Med. 8 93 (1975) 361 - 364.
Reicke, N.: ThePendular-Platiorm Test (P.P.T.). Adv. Oto-Rhino-Laryng.,
vol. 22, pp. 143-151.
Rohen,J.W.: Funktionelle Anatomiedes Nervensystems. 2. Auflage.
SchattauerVerlag Stuttgart-New York (1975).
380
I_;PRODUCIBILITY OP THI_
ORIGIN'AT, PAGI,_ IS POOR
Figure 1.- Pendular platform. The test person is oscillated around the
vertical axis with angular accelerations between ]7 and 520 deg/sec.
Ears and eyes are covered.
38t
Figure 2.- Combined action of the equilibrium sense nerves.
382
,_I,_I(;I\AT. PAGE IS PI)q_i(
=500 1
! oot
I _; _'v i , i ! Amp.rude
I i i ' * _m
' 12
0 0 2 L 6 8 10
"_ Excitation PP
_i._ Time base5ram "--I
14 16 18 rain 20
Figure 3.- Time history of amplitude of body oscillation. After a
decrease in the beginning it increases again later.
mcreose,,-P, percent of tratn,ng w=th fatigue
0 24,2 48,4 6%2 80,2 89,2 96,6 100 2,8
decrease --_
%8 19,1% 100
2,-2242 18,8 13 9 7,4 3,4 2,8 4,3 12
percentuat difference of traintnq
50% 100"1. percent of train,rig without fatigue
%
0 2 4,3 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 21re,n22
Figure 4.- Envelope of short-term training. It shows 100% e[fect of
training after 4,3 minutes, tasting for l(J more minutes.
383
Figure 5.- Test person on the scales.
She is balancing on toes or heels
with covered eyes and ears.
iTEST PERSON ! I
Clliibra- CaL_ation
on,.w.. _ _ _ I [TESTPE_SO,I!
eyes dosed On toes. On hews. On toes.
eyes dosed - eyes closed ey,_s closed - t - Age 30
[ Flight hours tOtal 1OO
14Oscdl m 5S OCl¢,l:.in _s m osc_Ua_ons in 5s _ F(ight hours 1976 1S
?osc01l. m SS 15mm llmi_ _,1OkD !5ampl _10kp _m ampl,_Jcle :-6kp
6Smm am_ ;_p Effect of training 25.4%
i TEST PERSON U I
CaLibration
Ciltib'a- -.m..m_ _ _.
t ion P
_m_"_l -_ ,oso. ,n 5s TSosc,_at,ons ,,_ % [TEST PERSON tiJ
_Samp( ;]kp ?5*_m am_,tqde'= _kp
;)osc,U ,n _ ' _ Age 67
l_.m_ ; Jkp t iL . Flight years 69I FligM hours total 000
Oosc,t( _ --,* Fhght hours 197§ /.9
Effect of traihin 9 73"/,
FLgure 6.- Long-term tralnlng. Orig£nal record£ngs for two dlfferent
test persons. 1 kllopond (kp) = 9.8 newtons.
IS4
• ,, , ..... . t'\': _ [" ["
d #
500 f _ Eyes open
°/"I _-_ closed /-/_1415I
3001 _ 310 ///
O'L 240 ¢¢.<///170u _2< !O0 77 ,;,.,
17 . "/
o 2 4 6 8 _o _2 _, _6 _8
///
///
///
/i/
/ 4
,I
20 m,n 22
520
i
pendularpIc]t form
17 77 170_ __0 _.!! ,
_ _ - T,me ba_e 5ram _'Is
I
SCHEME OF EXCITATION
°
Figure 7.- Excitation scheme. The equilibrium sense [s excited according
to this scheme. The eyes are open or closed, the acceleration is
raised step by step wlth breaks between.
385
386
FORMULAS
(1) I -- _---_-"J " 1OO = TE ill -_-- valid for toes
- .--_-- • 1OO - TE Eli
TEi Effect of training
AG - Average amplitude of oscillations durlng 5 sec
(difference in weight on scale)
n i number of oscillations during 5 sec
aGIv
For the heels dlvlde _ and nl---_Vaccordingly
nii
EXAMPLES
Test-
person
IT
T 0 E S
AGI I aGIz' I nI nIII
2,5 [ 1,8 9 12
28 _ -_ *
°lo ,Io
100 II 100
H E E L S
nGII _GIv InII I nIV'
12 5,4 7 3
55
lo I o
I00
58 _ TE
!_, (l)¢r,{ 2
5 I ,
80 % TE
.'eama'_mmt er:cz ellmlnat_Kl
Average TE from I = 28 + 55 + 58
= 47 k3
Average TE from II = 100 + 1OO • 100 + 80
= 954
Figure 8.- Calculations, formulas, and examples.
d o ,I
2O
0
0 40 80 120 160
FLight hours 1976
Figure 9.- Effect of training versus flight hours.
%
8O
¢-
¢-
r_
L.
+" 60
iii
2O o
n = 35
I I I I
o 2'o _'o _o a'o
Total flight hours / flight years
Figure I0.- Effect of training versus average flight hours per year.
387
I [ l l
p
20 _
i ! i
0 I , i i i i , i ' 4' '0 8 16 24 32 0
Fright years
Figure ii.- Effect of training versus flight years.
%
8O
O1
C
C
L.
*_ 60
o
u
W
4O
2O
0 20 40 60 % 80
Fright years/Age
Figure 12.- Effect of tratnlng versus age related flight years.
388
N79-27075
A MONTE CARLO APPROACH TO COMPETITION STRATEGY
Michael P. Teter
Coming Glass Works
The classic MacCready approach to maximize cross-country soaring speeds
has many drawbacks. P_lots race to get maximum scores, not to maximize
speed over a short length of a course. Maximum scores require a consistently
high average cross-country speed, but absolutely no landouts in a typical
contest. If a pilot refuses to accept weak lift, he will have a good time
almost regardless of the speed at which he flies. This presumes that he
will make it around the course, however. Real strategy is not so simple.
Variables which must be taken into account other than the strength of the
next thermal are the following:
I) Height of clouds
2) Distance between thermals
3) Time of day
4) Water ballast
5) Present altitude
6) Weather changes
7) Lift organization
8) Distance to goal
This list is neither complete nor arranged in order of importance. Most
competition pilots recognize these factors and attempt to take them into
account in their decision making. The biggest problem, however, is how to
quantitatively make trade-offs between these factors.
389


Balance training of the equilibrium organ and its effect on flight strategy

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