title: Extending helicopter operations to meet future integrated transportation needs.
abstract: Helicopters have the potential to be an integral part of the future transport system. They offer a means of rapid transit in an overly populated transport environment. However, one of the biggest limitations on rotary wing flight is their inability to fly in degraded visual conditions in the critical phases of approach and landing. This paper presents a study that developed and evaluated a Head up Display (HUD) to assist rotary wing pilots by extending landing to degraded visual conditions. The HUD was developed with the assistance of the Cognitive Work Analysis method as an approach for analysing the cognitive work of landing the helicopter. The HUD was tested in a fixed based flight simulator with qualified helicopter pilots. A qualitative analysis to assess situation awareness and workload found that the HUD enabled safe landing in degraded conditions whilst simultaneously enhancing situation awareness and reducing workload. Continued development in this area has the potential to extend the operational capability of helicopters in the future.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Psychology Research Group, Transportation Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Boldrewood Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 6QF, UK.
authors.forename: Neville A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.affiliation: Engineering Psychology Research Group, Transportation Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Boldrewood Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 6QF, UK. Electronic address: K.Plant@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Plant
authors.affiliation: Engineering Psychology Research Group, Transportation Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Boldrewood Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 6QF, UK.
authors.forename: Aaron P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Human Factors Research Group, Innovative Technology Research Centre, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: T Glyn
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001364:Awareness; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003626:Data Display; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D008875:Middle Aged; D014887:Weather; D016526:Workload
keywords: Cognitive work analysis; Head up display; Helicopters