Situational Awareness and the Lookout
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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.
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.
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.
Nop sorry could not work it out how you found it. I am not a native speaker of English indeed. I am from Mauritius. 
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
I do understand the complexity of flying but in no means did I mean that anyone could pop into a plane and fly it. 
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
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.
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.
Firstly I wonder if you can work out how I now know you aren't a native speaker of English
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.
High Wing Drifter thanks for the welcome but let's talk business
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).
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
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I still can't believe thay deleted my thread calling out for pilots in the military forum
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
Last edited by Droopystop; 22nd Sep 2005 at 13:40.
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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.
A fascinating subject, which I for one would like to know more about.
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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.
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.
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
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
