Situational Awareness and the Lookout

[What's a Girdler]

I have a question to all you civil trained pilots.

I am a military trained pilot who was always taught that the lookout and situational awareness is one of the most important aspect of flying. How much of your early training involved emphasis on situational awareness and looking out?

Yesterday afternoon I had a potentially dangerous experience at Blackbushe which could have ruined an otherwise uneventful flight. Whilst on final to land on runway 25 I noticed some light flickering in my periferal vision. Looking out to my left was an aircraft, literally feet away heading straight for us at right angles. He then passed just behind us after ATC told him that he was number 2 to land and to go around, then at 2-300 feet flew over Yately noise abatement area!

On explanation the pilot said he had not seen us having been told to follow us into landing by ATC and had turned far too early on to base which conflicted with our standard approach path (he thought we had already landed). It seems that he was totally unaware of the busy circuit traffic, lost situational awareness and was totally unaware of the Blackbushe circuit layout. This showed a severe lack of airmanship and in my view stems back to his training!!

The purpose of my little rant is that we have all got to keep safe up there otherwise an avoidable accident will happen which will further destroy the reputation and increase the legislation to our beloved hobby. So this is a plea to all PPL holders, to keep a better lookout and to be more aware of your situation, otherwise one day someone is going to get hurt.

[Flyin'Dutch']

With a fine catalogue of rants nearly every time we have had a reasonable weather day for flying the question has to be what is going on.

1. Either we get better at ranting and are less forgiving in our nature or

2. Airmanship is going South pretty quickly.

I fear it may be the latter

[High Wing Drifter]

Girdler,

Yes, one can on occassion (I stress on rare occassion) be completely perplexed by the decisions made in the Blackbushe circuit, some of the circuits being somewhat polygonal in shape and large to boot. I have also seen the odd aircraft apparently transiting the zone well below 2000 on the QNH!! Maybe they had information, but I still don't understand the need for it.

If it is the case, then how is it that SA is lost in the latter case? Is in part due to something like relience on GPS CDI style displays or something?

and I consider myself extremely tollerant and understand!!

[What's a Girdler]

Which is strange when you consider the part Farnborough plays!! People are becoming too reliant on technology rather than 'seat of the pants' flying, with heads firmly inside the cockpit!!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Looking at the way of GA in this country.


- 45-60 hours training to get a PPL, often over several years.

- A nominal average currency of 6 hours per year.

- Flying costs which are so high that an increasing number of PPLs don't achieve much more than that.

- GA aircraft increasingly being filled up with large amounts of avionics that PPLs don't properly understand, but don't have the sense to turn off and ignore.


So, some things tend to go by the board, particularly checks, lookout and briefings - things that to somebody military trained like yourself are second nature. An unhappy situation, but unless we become very restrictive of who is allowed to fly, we have to accept and allow for it.

G

[DRJAD]

It does seem, looking here and elsewhere, and out of the transparent bits of the cockpit, that airmanship is on a downward trend.

Fortunately, in the less crowded airspace of the north we have not yet been too inconvenienced by it. I do recall, though, some situations where I have apparently not been seen by another pilot: situations both within and without the circuit.

I had the good fortune to be taught by a variety of instructors, all of whom encouraged me to think about what is going on. Situational awareness has so far, and I am touching wood as I type, not eluded me.

I believe, however, that the important point is that students be encouraged to think for themselves, from the first moment of setting foot on the airfield prior to flight. I fear that formulaic teaching breeds formulaic pilots - who believe that if they do everything in the cockpit that they learnt, then they will be safe, no matter what else is going on around them. In other words, their safety is entirely the result of the observation and good reactions of others, and they are failing to reciprocate to the benefit of all.

[italianjon]

As some of you know, the ones I met at the Popham fly-in, I am working towards my PPL.

One thing I have noticed is that although after a few days off my flying has not deteriorated but I do become forgetful of the avionics. An example, I forgot to turn on the Xponder, when I entered the active the other day... Got a clip round the ear from my instructor, but I have found myself "out-of-habit", and do tend to start scanning internally to ensure my avionics are set correctly!!! Not good I know!

But coupling this with a conversation I had the other day with my father, and another forum on Prune ( Why is a/c rental so expensive (http://http://www.pprune.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190651) )
Is aviation still in the realms of a slightly elitist attitude we have in this country. I fail to see why aviation is so much more expensive in this country than the States. Considering most of the aircraft used by ad hoc rental clubs are US origin. I do worry slightly how after completing my PPL I will be able to maintain practice and save for further courses (CPL/IR etc).

I do strongly feel that if aviation was made more available, we would all be able to practice more and be better at it. I am hoping the costs come down, as diesel becomes more available to the GA community.

[Flyin'Dutch']

Jon

If you are a PPL stude I would expect you only to use the Radio and Transponder bits of your avionics.

Only other times to look in are

1. to see Map/PLOG/Stopwatch
2. write on PLOG
3. Look at any bits/switches you are going to move.

N'est ce pas?

FD

[robin]

Italianjon

Whilst you are under the care of an instructor, follow his advice. But the issue here is the lookout.

In gliding, that is the constant theme of all flying in gliders - keep a lookout. It's what power pilots are especially bad at doing. The normal cockpit layout is very poor and doesn't help - with my xx hours looking through the PA28 'letterbox' I can swear to that.

But gliders are used to flying in close proximity to other gliders and so a lookout is life-enhancing.

I despair when I read on these threads about pilots relying on TCAS and ATC instructions - they should be listening and looking out and taking avoiding action earlier than later.

[italianjon]

Dutch...

Indeed you are correct... I was refering to things such as, Strobes and Xpdr into and leaving the active runway; Fuel Pump after a Tank change; next frequency ready to go...

When you are out of practice, I find myself noticing one thing, and then re-checking everything, as you get the feeling you may have forgotten something else.

I have often gone to change Xpdr code, and just before changing a dial, remebering to switch to STBY. Dodgy, when around the 7000 mark!

I don't use a GPS yet.

I was trying to make the point that as a low hours pilot, without even thinking about it, your attention is very easily distracted by the lack of practice. I am lucky that I am aware, as it has been pointed out to me. If I fly for two or three days on the trot, the issues go away. Therefore by more practice I think the distractions for low hours will disappear due to habit and not affect the flight safety.

Robin,

Couldn't agree more about lookout. On my first solo nav had some military hardware go above, then a different set go below, by a few hundered feet within about 20 seconds on one of my solo navs...

Maybe it is just me, but sometimes when completing a check, for example, downwind checks, if I forget one small thing it makes me re-check, as I could have forgotten something else. Time spent looking inside the cockpit. If however I have flown for a few days, I tend not to miss things.

(Sorry about the split answer - you responded during my writing of the reply to dutch... so just added comments on)

[Flyin'Dutch']

Jon,

You are of course correct and you will notice that the more experience you have, the quicker you will be back in the groove.

My comments are to be seen in the light that a lot of emphasis seems to be on doing things inside correctly, rather than looking out of the window!

[Say again s l o w l y]

Another problem is the increasing complexity of airspace and 'local' procedures.

Invariably these things have a negative impact on safety since people become more concerned with watching out for airspace boundaries (which contrary to opinion don't hurt if you bump into them compared to looking for other a/c which hurt a lot if you happen to end up sharing the same piece of sky.)

This leads to more and more people becoming reliant on technology such as GPS rather than looking where they are going.

Add all this complexity to the fact that people are flying less and less often because of the cost and you'll find a pretty nasty trend emerging.

I personally don't know many PPL's who "rely on TCAS" simply as it isn't fitted to the vast majority of light aircraft. Personally, when flying a machine equipped with TCAS, if it goes off and tells me to do something, then I'm going to do it. All commercial aircraft have it fitted and in certain circumstances we are 'reliant' on it. I certainly wouldn't want to trust the safety of my passengers purely to the MK1 eyeball.

[Flyin'Dutch']

Flying around with TCAS has made me realise that:

1. There is an awful lot of traffic about that you don't see even despite best endeavours.

2. There is an awful lot of traffic about that does not have a transponder/does not use it.

[italianjon]

Possibly.

I am lucky with my school that they are pushing "look out of the window - to maintain cinstant attitude" very heavily. I can not comment on other schools, as I am still flying from one place.

My point was just that the theme seems to be degraded airmanship. I feel, even from a young inexperienced position, that practice is a major contributor, and that maybe a degree of cost prohibition is contributing to the lack of practice.

As I want to go further with my flight training, I am going to try to make sure that I fly as often as I can, even if for cost reason it works out at 30 minutes of circuits, to keep in the groove. That way I can divert cash to the CPL fund! And then start going places again!

[DRJAD]

I do feel, most sincerely, that constant practice is pushed too much to the exclusion of all other considerations.

It is necessary, IMHO, to develop the skills of thinking too in order to gain and sustain situational awareness. That is why I personally advocate the student learns the discipline to brief himself or herself prior to getting to the flight school - by this I mean thinking through the impending flight, anticipating where and how the flight will be conducted, navigation and vertical navigation, looking at the charts (even when in the circuit: one sees other features outside the circuit).

Then the student meets his instructor, hopefully the instructor will provide a briefing for the flight which now the student can synthesize with his own.

The flight can then be conducted with the student comparing flight progress with his mental image of the flight. This will make the inculcation of gaining situational awareness, ultimately as an automatic process, easier.

For maximum effectiveness, after the instructor's post-flight briefing, and preferably away from the airfield, the student can think through the actual progress of the flight, and make mental notes of what went well, what was uncertain, and what went badly, to inform his subsequent forays in the air.

This adoption of a mental discipline, of a way of thinking is not, so far as I know, taught in all training organisations. I suggest it should be. As a musician this is the way that I have come most effectively to learn. I do not believe the analogy, though imperfect, to be entirely devoid of merit, since, on the face of it, both flying and being an instrumentalist are activities with a high practical content.

Pending the universal adoption of this discipline in the teaching of flying skills, however, it should not be beyond the wit of an aspirant pilot to do this for themselves. Since they can do it for themselves, they should do it immediately.

[stue]

DRJAD,

Fully agree with you. I go my PPL in June, got about 70 hours now. Running through the flight while driving home was the time when I learned the most. When you have got time to think about it, and go through it in you mind then the things that you got wrong or didn’t do as you should, you remember for next time. Worked wonders for me!

My instructor could never stress enough about looking out of the window and making yourself be seen. Also listening to the radio to build up a mental picture about what the other traffic is doing. Then you can react, if you hear that someone is going to be over the VRP where you are going, etc.

Lessons that a lot of people could use in life on the ground, as well as in the air.

Happy flying! :D

[bookworm]

Whilst on final to land on runway 25 I noticed some light flickering in my periferal vision. Looking out to my left was an aircraft, literally feet away heading straight for us at right angles.

So if your lookout is so effective, why did it take until he was "literally feet away" before you saw him?

[What's a Girdler]

When on final approach with full flap, runway insight in a circuit of a busy airfield within a dedicated ATZ what the hell could I have done if I had seen him earlier, that surely is the point of the ATZ!! Also if he was behind me how the hell could I have seen him until the last minute!! It is his responsibility to stay clear of me!! This was his failure not mine!!!!

[bookworm]

It's not a question of what you could have done. It's obviously your right of way and his responsibility to give way. The point is that you didn't see him, and that suggests that while looking out is easy, actually seeing the other aircraft on a collision course in time to do something about it is much harder.

[What's a Girdler]

I think you are missing the point here! It's not hard to spot aircraft and you shouldn't have to spot other aircraft when on final unless they are in front of you.

[Say again s l o w l y]

Sorry, but you've shot yourself slightly in the foot here. You should ALWAYS keep a good lookout, just because you are on final approach doesn't mean you shouldn't look out incase the situation you are complaining about happens.

We all have a responsibility to try and lookout as well as we can, it is by no means perfect (as FD has shown) but combine good lookout with listening on the radio properly (obviously as long as other a/c are radio equipped) and this sort of problem should be minimised as much as is humanly possible.

Right of way is one thing if both aircraft know where the other is, but I wouldn't bet my life on the other guy having seen me just to make a point.

[High Wing Drifter]

With all due respect fellahs, I think it is a little disingenuous to accuse somebody on final approach that their lookout is lacking. We aren't talking about turning final, but into final. When's the last time you kept a left to right sky scan going at 350' off the deck with the associated turbulence (and LK can be a little bumpy on the way down for 25)? It just isn't a realistic proposition. The other pilot was 100% bang in the wrong, and in this regard Girdler has done nothing to require personal reflection of the event.

[What's a Girdler]

Thanks HWD I'm glad someone lives in the real world. The fact is the other guy was unaware I was even there which means he wasn't aware of his situation!!

[Whirlybird]

I think the point bookworm is making is that one can easily miss seeing other aircraft. It's been proved time and time again that this is the case, however good your lookout is.

Girdler says it's not hard to spot other aircraft, but actually, it is. You don't know about the ones you don't see. Yet still, whenever something like this happens, people blame bad airmanship, not just with the individual, but generally!!!

Are standards going down? Are pilots looking inside more than in the past? Are glider pilots any better at all this...judging by how close gliders sometimes get to me, I'm certainly not at all sure about that last one. I see no clear evidence for any of the above, yet everyone talks as though it's a known fact.

The only known facts are that the mark 1 eyeball is imperfect, and the skies are getting more crowded......

[Say again s l o w l y]

In busy airspace with other aircraft around, my head is moving around like a spinning top, especially looking for other traffic turning onto final approach. I've seen one too many close calls so that's why I'm quite particular about this.

In this case however, the other crew was definately in the wrong, since they were told they would be no.2 and yet didn't locate the other a/c or ask for a position check before turning from downwind onto base. Not very clever at all.

I'm not sure whether standards are going down, this incident was in the circuit so I would hope no-one would be playing with avionics at this stage. Lookout is generally not great, especially when people get out of the circuit, but I don't think it's any worse than I've noticed it before.

[Whirlybird]

Of course in this case the pilot turning base was in the wrong. I don't think anyone would query this. What I, and I think bookworm, and possibly many others, would question, is whether many pilots are like this, or many civilian pilots, or many recently qualified pilots...or indeed whether any deductions whatsoever can be made from this one incident. And I think some of us would also query whether good lookout as as good and reliable as some people like to think it is.

[Say again s l o w l y]

There is no way to determine any trends from just a singular incident, trying to draw conclusions from such a limited data source would make any result meaningless.

Lookout is very important, but as others have said it is not infallible, it's better than nothing though!

[uttam]

As a motorcyclist I long since learnt that I am invisible and that kicking a dent in the car door, though tempting, is likely to hurt.

I have the good fortune of having earned my PPL having taken 21 years of matrimony and mortgage to finish it. Now I fly about a 100hrs a year in around 40 days a year. I believe I have just entered the killing zone.

I do not wish to take anyone with me anymore than I wish to kick the car. I plan my flights to do my utmost to make sure that this does not happen. Yet as has happened, if I should break through cloud under RAS to find a transponder and radio free craft bumbling across my path, I will wish the pilot a pleasant flight and thank my guardian angel for giving me time to manoeuvre.

We need more aviators. More flying should lead to better flying and hopefully cheaper flying. The alternative to the commensurate risks appears to be to stay on the ground wishing we were up there.

As for electronics, I cannot envisage a future without them, so I propose to embrace them, but that is another topic.

[Whirlybird]

I am a military trained pilot who was always taught that the lookout and situational awareness is one of the most important aspect of flying. How much of your early training involved emphasis on situational awareness and looking out?


OK, Girdler, I'll answer your very first question...forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone has so far!

I learned to fly (f/w, not rotary) with some very low hours instructors at a not particularly good flying school in the middle of nowhere in the UK. Nevertheless, when I was first doing circuits, lookout was emphasised above all else. In particular, if I was on the downwind leg and heard someone call final, I was taught not to turn base until I had identified the other aircraft and he had passed my port wing (for a left hand circuit). This sometimes meant extending downwind quite a lot if I couldn't see the other aircraft, so that was what I did...and still do, if such circumstances re-occur. Even if I only flew six hours a year or less, this is so imprinted on my brain that I think I'd remember it no matter what!

So, if my training was typical, the pilot you mention was an exception, not a typical example of civilian pilot training.

But how were the rest of you taught? Not "the others", not "the pilots of today", but YOU?

[High Wing Drifter]

Lookout is very important, but as others have said it is not infallible I have to admit, I suspect that like many people my lookout can stop for some other activity, but I conciously try my hardest. To whit anybody who gets the chance should take BRL up on one of his annual organised visits to Farnborough. Heading out of Blackbushe I usually spot several aircraft. However, one look at the Farnborough screen told me that I probably had only seen a fraction of the traffic that was probably visible to me at any one time :uhoh:

But how were the rest of you taught? Not "the others", not "the pilots of today", but YOU?
Whirls, The same as you.

[DRJAD]

Whirlybird, yes, that's how I was taught, too.

I was lucky enough to have a variety of instructors, who all emphasised lookout. Additionally, they advocated thinking through a 'plan' and 'elevation' of what was going on, with my aircraft inside that view. In other words, to build up a 3D mental view of what was going on.

This has proved invaluable. It has, as a discipline, to be practiced on the ground first. However, it becomes second nature and really helps in all manner of ways: traffic visualisation, circuit recognition, approaches, entering and leaving the hold, etc..

No doubt its what has at some stage to be learnt by us all - but in my view there's no harm and every advantage in encouraging students to do it as soon as possible.

[Maude Charlee]

One of the problems with student pilots, or inexperienced PPLs, and lookout is that whilst they may very well be looking out of the window, do they really know what they are looking for?

I remember quite distinctly that it took me ages to figure out where I ought to be looking at any given time, and just what other traffic looked like at varying distances and relative attitudes. I consider that I have excellent eyesight, and I had the double advantage in those early days of a top class RAF instructor and an aircraft where lookout was made easy by virtue of a large bubble canopy. However, I was constantly embarassed by my QFI spotting traffic long before me, some of which I never even saw (even his guide dog had sunglasses and a white stick).

Nowadays, I'm a survey pilot, and quite frankly a good lookout and situational awareness are two of the things that keep me alive on a daily basis. If I know, or believe, there is traffic in the vicinity, then I make sure I get an eyeball on the little devil regardless of where I am, and I make sure that they know exactly where I am too. There are enough fat, dumb and happy plonkers in the sky to kill me, and I don't trust other pilots any more than I trust other drivers. Just because they shouldn't do something is no guarantee that they won't.

Lookout and situational awareness are two of those things that take time to come to you. Yes you can try and teach it, but like any skill you only become really good at it with regular practice over a period of time. There are a great many pilots out there who simply don't have either the continuity or the time to have developed the skill fully (or fly a/c which limit their ability to conduct a good lookout), and you should conduct every flight with that in mind. Everybody is fallible and you'll only die once.

[High Wing Drifter]

Safety Sense 13. Of particular interest are the descriptions of the two scan techniques.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg_gad_webSSl13.pdf

[dharmesh4]

Hi guys, could not stop myself from joining this thread.

Well being a student researcher in the field of situational awareness domain, I have to say that SA is not only confined to military pilots nowadays, as there has been some research going on in commercial flights as well and there have been new technologies like highway-in-sky that provide guidance information on external displays within avionics displays. Technology is only here to enhance the ability of pilots and enhance their human capabilities beyond their physiological limits. As far as I know, situational awareness does not need any training; the burden is put on technology rather than the pilot. Designing for pilot situational awareness is designing towards their goals which are often dynamic, that is change over time. I do not have any piloting experience but situational awareness is designed so that the time and avionics complexity pressure is lessened on them, according to other researches and reports.

I can only say one thing, avionics displays are bringing much improvement to flying be it military or commercial flights. Embracing them will only ensure flight safety and effectiveness.

By the way, I am doing a research and I do lack some pilot information in my research. So if anyone wants to help, please give me a shout as I would really apppreciate any help from you guys out here be it military pilots or commercial pilots.

If you would like to know more about the technologies being developed for future aircrafts, gimme a shout.

Hope this helps. :ok:

[High Wing Drifter]

Hi Dharmesh and welcome :)
As far as I know, situational awareness does not need any training; the burden is put on technology rather than the pilot
In my view SA does require significant training to prevent the pilot fixating on one instrument or activity. SA requires the pilot to constantly divide their attention between tasks to achieve that 'global' view of their surroundings. The extent of the global view changes depending on your activity. VFR flying in uncontrolled airspace requires constant awareness of your navigation, engine/fuel condition, a/c attitude, R/T and knowledge of what is occupying the near sky in virtually a 180 deg area round, above and below you. Doing all these activities to a reasonable level of frequency and diligance without impinging on the effectiveness or efficiency of the others is definately a learnt skill for most people (me included).

[tmmorris]

It does seem amazing how often I see another ac and they apparently haven't seen me - e.g. they don't take avoiding action when they should (on the left). I'm sure I do it to other people too - after all, if I never see them, how would I know...?

Or perhaps they don't know the Rules of the Air...?

Tim

[Squadgy]

Just a point regarding the initial posting. Blackbushe is a FIS airfield. Therefore it's up to pilots to determine the order of landing aided by the FISO providing traffic information, it shouldn't be the case that someone is told to 'follow' an other aircraft in the air or told to exercise a go-around:confused:

[Genghis the Engineer]

Darmesh, before I start picking apart what you've said, please don't take any criticism personally. Just to state what makes me feel I can criticise, I'm a chartered aeronautical engineer, have a PhD in airworthiness, 15 years test flying experience, am a specialist referee for both the "Journal of Aerospace Engineering" and "Aeronautical Journal of the RAeS". Oh yes, and I've logged 93 types as operating crew, and given the occasional university lecture on aircraft design and certification.

Now, rolling my sleeves up...

Hi guys, could not stop myself from joining this thread.

Well being a student researcher in the field of situational awareness domain, I have to say that SA is not only confined to military pilots nowadays,


Firstly, I think that you've picked a very worthwhile area to research - there's a lot of useful work to be done. Also, do keep engaged in Pprune, we could do with a few more academics in the melting pot.

I think that what you probably mean is that SA research is not confined to military applications. In practice, the issue of SA, and the teaching of how to maintain it goes back to the early days of WW2 to my certain knowledge if not earlier - the oldest reference I've ever seen to it's practice is in Guy Gibson's "Enemy Coast Ahead". It may have originated in the military environment, but has been a serious subject in civil flying for nearly as long.



as there has been some research going on in commercial flights as well and there have been new technologies like highway-in-sky that provide guidance information on external displays within avionics displays.

Technology is only here to enhance the ability of pilots and enhance their human capabilities beyond their physiological limits. As far as I know, situational awareness does not need any training; the burden is put on technology rather than the pilot.


You've rather contradicted yourself here, and I agree with your first statement and disagree strongly with the second. SA, with regard to being aware of what is going on around you is an essential part of the training of all cockpit aircrew (which nowadays primarily means pilots, but may well include navigators, WSOs, helicopter crewmen and so-on.) Whilst it may not be named as a specific subject in many syllabi, it is nonetheless an important part of the training of all of us. It also necessarily includes air traffickers in their various guises.



Designing for pilot situational awareness is designing towards their goals which are often dynamic, that is change over time. I do not have any piloting experience but situational awareness is designed so that the time and avionics complexity pressure is lessened on them, according to other researches and reports.


Crew will source information from many directions to enhance their mental SA model. This may include visual (most of the time) , Radar (if so fitted), Radio (listening to other transmissions, plus traffic information passed to them), expectations (knowing how another aircraft is likely to have behaved since it's position was last known), JTIDS (for the military), TCAS/TPAS, radalt, use of charts and so on. The big issue is not what information is available, it is how it can be presented and fused together.



I can only say one thing, avionics displays are bringing much improvement to flying be it military or commercial flights. Embracing them will only ensure flight safety and effectiveness.


This I'm afraid is somewhere that I think you are potentially very very wrong. A great many modern cockpits, particularly in a GA environment are an ergonomic nightmare and aircrew are often at great risk of SA being degraded due to information overload.

Two major things are needed to counter this. Firstly it is (in the more modern cockpits) the maximum possible use of data-fusion methods, reducing the display to the simplest possible. Secondly it is the specific training of aircrew to absorb, filter, and use data to create an effective mental model of what's going on around them WITHOUT degrading their ability to perform other flying tasks.

So, technology is only part of the solution, and it can very often be the problem.



By the way, I am doing a research and I do lack some pilot information in my research. So if anyone wants to help, please give me a shout as I would really apppreciate any help from you guys out here be it military pilots or commercial pilots.

If you would like to know more about the technologies being developed for future aircrafts, gimme a shout.

Hope this helps.

Firstly I wonder if you can work out how I now know you aren't a native speaker of English :O

Secondly, and I speak as somebody familiar with university level aeronautical research YOU HAVE GOT TO GET YOURSELF INTO THE AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENT. Cadge lifts in local flying club light aircraft, see if you can get a concession to jump-ride on some military or civil airliner flights, even join a local gliding club. You will never properly understand the subject you are studying unless you immerse yourself in it properly. Also, spend some quality time sat looking over an airfield controllers shoulder somewhere.

If you don't, you may well pass your PhD, you may even get an academic post on the back of it. But, I'm afraid that to those of us in the "real world" your work will be worthless.

G

[GuinnessQueen]

An interesting post Ghengis.

Before we go galloping into ergonomics and SA research, it is of course vital to consider what the particular domain requirements are. GA requirements are going to be vastly different to miltary and civil aircraft - hence the use of display technologies in one domain will not be ideal in another.

It is also a difficult balance when designing cockpits / display layout that you may want to employ 'best practice' but due to existing conventions or current layout (in the case of retro-fit) you have a limited scope to work within.

Back to the topic, airmanship, lookout and SA:

Again, from a professional viewpoint here (Aviation Human Factors). Airmanship is a state of mind......it is instilled from those first flights and represents how you apply captaincy based skills, knowledge and attitudes. These skills, knowledge and attitudes will develop at different speeds during your learning, I believe that attitude is the one factor that can influence the other two and the rate at which progress is made.

Situational Awareness.....hmmm, means different things to different people! Generally it is accepted that SA refers to taking in the information around you, comprehending it, planning ahead for the information and resolving any associated issues.....perhaps all easier said than done! Perhaps what is more useful to the everyday pilot is the issue of 'meta-cognition of SA' - i.e our own awareness of SA, for example, which is more worrying, knowing we have poor SA at one stage during flight...and bearing that in mind when decision making, or thinking wrongly that we have good SA, when indeed we don't.

I.e the crux of SA problems is the difference between perceived and actual SA!

Hope I haven't gone off on a tangent too much, best get back to writing a report (on this very topic)!

Cheers

GQ

[High Wing Drifter]

Situational Awareness.....hmmm, means different things to different people! Generally it is accepted that SA refers to taking in the information around you, comprehending it, planning ahead for the information and resolving any associated issues
In other words, don't be where your brain didn't arrive five minutes before :D

[dharmesh4]

Well this thread is sure taking an interesting turn and sure is cheering me up for the deletion of my thread calling for pilots for my research.

Genghis, I really appreciated your feedback and advice. I have to admit that when it comes to aviation, I am only an admirer of military aircrafts but would really love to get into it more.

Well first of all, my research is not at the Phd level but at the Masters level. I do have plans to continue doing my research into SA for a Phd. I believe that I have much to learn from you and this forum.

SA, with regard to being aware of what is going on around you is an essential part of the training of all cockpit aircrew (which nowadays primarily means pilots, but may well include navigators, WSOs, helicopter crewmen and so-on.) Whilst it may not be named as a specific subject in many syllabi, it is nonetheless an important part of the training of all of us. It also necessarily includes air traffickers in their various guises.

I think this is probably where I got it wrong then but in no way did I mean that with SA in systems anyone could easily pilot an aircraft.

This I'm afraid is somewhere that I think you are potentially very very wrong. A great many modern cockpits, particularly in a GA environment are an ergonomic nightmare and aircrew are often at great risk of SA being degraded due to information overload.

Well most of the systems I know of are only prototypes and to my knowledge none has yet been implemented in an aircraft yet. Much research is going on in Synthetic Vision Displays for enhancing SA and this involves using digital displays. One of the goals of SA is in fact to reduce information overload. I am saying this according to the book by Mica Endsley - Designing for Situation Awareness.

Firstly I wonder if you can work out how I now know you aren't a native speaker of English

Nop sorry could not work it out how you found it. I am not a native speaker of English indeed. I am from Mauritius. :O

Secondly, and I speak as somebody familiar with university level aeronautical research YOU HAVE GOT TO GET YOURSELF INTO THE AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENT. Cadge lifts in local flying club light aircraft, see if you can get a concession to jump-ride on some military or civil airliner flights, even join a local gliding club. You will never properly understand the subject you are studying unless you immerse yourself in it properly. Also, spend some quality time sat looking over an airfield controllers shoulder somewhere.

Noted and many thanks for the advice. It is much appreciated. I have to say that I come from a computing background and I do not know too much about aviation.

High Wing Drifter thanks for the welcome but let's talk business :hmm:

VFR flying in uncontrolled airspace requires constant awareness of your navigation, engine/fuel condition, a/c attitude, R/T and knowledge of what is occupying the near sky in virtually a 180 deg area round, above and below you. Doing all these activities to a reasonable level of frequency and diligance without impinging on the effectiveness or efficiency of the others is definately a learnt skill for most people (me included).

I do understand the complexity of flying but in no means did I mean that anyone could pop into a plane and fly it. :D

Big call to all pilots out there, PM me if you want to participate in my research on SA.

I still can't believe thay deleted my thread calling out for pilots in the military forum :ugh:

[BRL]

I still can't believe thay deleted my thread calling out for pilots in the military forum Did you ask the forum moderator if you can use the forum for research? Come to think of it, I don't think you have even asked us in this forum.

[dharmesh4]

Did you ask the forum moderator if you can use the forum for research? Come to think of it, I don't think you have even asked us in this forum.

Well I do have to apologise. I did not know that you had to ask permission before doing something on the forum. I thought you were free to post threads as long as it did not harm the integrity of the forum. Sorry about that.

So now I am asking for permission. Could I please have your permission to post a call for pilots to join my research?

Looking forward to your reply. ;)

[DRJAD]

dharmesh4,

Notwithstanding, and certainly not anticipating, any decision from forum moderators, it is vital, I think, that you follow Genghis' advice and get some quality time looking at the pilot's, and air trafficker's, environment before asking for detailed information.

We have to build our situational awareness using the tools we have available. Apart from our own physiological sensors (eyes, ears, hands, feet), we have the instruments that exist, and the places where they exist, in the aircraft we are flying.

Are you aware that the majority of the GA fleet of aricraft is elderly? Have you looked at the layout(s) of an instrument panel? (There are, at least, photographs available in various places on the web.) Those of us who hire, rather than own, aircraft have to cope with varying instrument layouts in the same type of aircraft.

There is not a great deal of cash around to invest in sophisticated instrumentation displays - or that, at any rate, pertains for the majority of GA pilots. Yet we use the instruments we do have in order to gain the kind of SA we need to make ourselves as safe as we can be, and to play our part in cooperating with all the other users and stakeholders in our airspace to contribute to the general level of safety. (A long-winded way of saying that safety is a mutual endeavour.)

A well-researched, well argued, cogent study which is not congruent with the real situation in this field is as useless as poor research. There are opportunities to connect with that real situation - it's merely being suggested that you avail yourself of those opportunities.

[dharmesh4]

Thanks for the advice DRJAD. Yes I did take a look at the displays in aircraft (I got it right this time Genghis :O).

Your input is much appreciated. ;)

[Droopystop]

While the big guns go for their degrees in SA......

I believe that this issue of lookout and SA and lack of it is down to the training. Uk PPL has no requirement to learn GPS systems and only very basic instrument flying. All the while a good look out is drummed into the student. The GFT comes and goes, the license arrives and an aircraft is hired. Now many pilots are fairly gadety people, so they can't wait to get into the cockpit and start playing with all the kit that remained either switched off or unexplained by the instructor. Add a hand held GPS. All of a sudden there is a miriad of distractions although navigation (that was never very easy) is now done for you. The lookout is degraded. Maybe a good moving map GPS will benefit SA, but only if it is integrated into the basic flying skills. So may be the PPL should include instruction on navigation systems and how to use them as an aid rather than leave them to be a future distraction.

[DRJAD]

A good point, Droopystop. The psychological aspect is of vital importance. I believe you've identified a particularly problem-strewn aspect of new pilot behaviour - i.e. the 'gadget affinity'. I'm sure we've all felt its effects, the issue is how we address the situation.

A fascinating subject, which I for one would like to know more about.

[Cat.S]

The external lookout was an integral part of my training from the very first lesson and the school were very keen on it. I had five instructors over my PPL course (our instructors were very popular with the airlines) and all insisted on good lookout and telling them of any traffic I saw. Only one of these was unhappy about me looking behind and above on short final, telling me "not to worry, there's no b**** Meschersmitts behind you!" (I'd added this scan as a C152 had caught us up and tried to land on us just before the threshold on a non-radio airfield when I'd been with my previous instructor, getting to within a hundred feet of us before he realised that we were there.)

My last instructor was very keen on using the landing light at all times when the visibility was poor, or we were operating low down in areas where Shawbury's helicopters went to play, or when there was a low sun behind us. He reasoned that just because we were looking, it didn't mean that we'd always spot something else and it also made us much more visible to head-on traffic.
Since then I've always done this and made a point of briefing my passengers to report all sightings of other aicraft.

[TwoDeadDogs]

Whirly,
I couldn't agree more.I was taught the same procedure,by an English instructor, at a US flying school and it helped enormously. When I came home, local pilots I flew with commented on my habit of continuous "eyes outside" and regular traffic calls. I make a point of getting passengers to keep their eyes open and call out any traffic, especially if it appears that I haven't seen it. I've had enough close calls to appreciate the value of a good look-out and, reinforcing the original poster's point, of good SA.
regards
TDD :ok: