Please help with masters thesis survey... read on....
 

Hello all,

I am a police helicopter pilot and also an aerospace engineer. I am preparing a thesis for a masters degree in Aviation Systems Flight Testing through the University of Tennessee Space Institute, which will examine the virtues of using a "systems engineering approach" to selecting and outfitting a helicopter for the police, EMS, and public safety role.

I have created a survey that will provide me with initial information and statistics which I will use to develop a decision-making tool for aircraft and equipment selection. Based on the answers I am receiving, I may develop more specific airframe and mission equipment surveys, and contact a few of those who permit me to. Your participation will make my job of data gathering much more specialized and productive.

I would appreciate it if anyone involved in aerial law enforcement, EMS, or any other public safety capacity would take 10 minutes to complete the survey.

Please post any comments or questions you might have.

Thank you in advance!

Regards,
Frank Lombardi

survey link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...dUryJRLg_3d_3d

Rotorheads,

Please note that this is a one-off: PPRuNe policy is not to allow surveys, but I reckon that this would be of benefit to us all in the long run :ok:

Hi Frank,
just completed your survey and hope I could help you even if I´m not flying in the US but for a german police helicopter squadron.
Best regards
Tom

frank, hi, let us know if we can be of any assistance. know a little bit about your subject matter
cheers
cal

Thank you!
 

Hello All,

I would like to thank everyone who either plans to, or has already taken the time to complete my survey. I realize they can be difficult to muddle through and complete, especially when most times you never see the end result. My thesis will be available to all, once completed.

The data is proving to be invaluable, especially the candid comments regarding what combination of systems work well, and what ends up being a deficiency with regards to the helicopter as a mission platform. So far it seems that mission equipment integration is a big "gotcha" during acquisitions. It's difficult to forsee all the positives and negatives with a system until its put into the operational environment.

Many comments about the survey are regarding my decision to force certain items to be put in a numerical order of importance. That was a tough decision when designing the questions. I ultimately decided to force the numbering, because I wanted to do just that- FORCE the taker to assign a degree of importance to things when compared against the other choices. I wanted to avoid people saying, "Well, ALL very important to the mission, therefore, they all receive the highest rating." I felt that this will become significant later, when compromises due to increasing weight, decreasing useful load, etc. need to be made.

In hindsight, it may cause some inconsistencies when I examine the data as a whole.

All questions, comments, and criticisms are welcomed. Your knowledge and experiences are helping out immensely.

Regards,
Frank

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Hi Frank,
please let me know whether you´ve reached my mail.
Regards
Tom

Would be more than happy to help if/when it comes back online.