title: Effects of scenery, lighting, glideslope, and experience on timing the landing flare.
abstract: This study examined three visual strategies for timing the initiation of the landing flare based on perceptions of either: (a) a critical height above ground level; (b) a critical runway width angle (Psi); or (c) a critical time-to-contact (TTC) with the runway. Visual displays simulated landing approaches with trial-to-trial variations in glideslope, lighting, and scene detail. Twenty-four participants (8 private pilots, 8 student pilots, and 8 nonpilots) were instructed to initiate the flare when they perceived that their TTC with the runway (30 m wide by 840 m long) had reached a critical value of 2 seconds. Our results demonstrated a significant effect of flight experience on flare timing accuracy and dominance of the height-based strategy over the runway-width-angle and TTC-based strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia. Stephenp@uow.edu.au
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palmisano
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Favelle
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Sachtler
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000401:Aircraft; D000531:Altitude; D001288:Attention; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004215:Distance Perception; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013998:Time Perception