Visual test results compared with flying performance in telemetry-tracked aircraft

Area of Science:

• Aviation Psychology
• Human Factors Engineering
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Assessing pilot performance is crucial for aviation safety and mission success.
• Understanding the relationship between visual perception and flight performance informs training and aircraft design.
• Previous research suggested links between laboratory visual tests and simulator performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between laboratory and airborne visual test results and actual flight performance in high-performance aircraft.
• To determine which specific visual tests best predict performance in different aerial tasks, including low-level bombing and air-to-air combat.
• To validate simulator findings with real-world flight data.

Main Methods:

• Pilots flew telemetry-tracked A4 and F-14 aircraft in simulated low-level bombing and air-to-air combat scenarios.
• Laboratory visual tests included discrimination of flow pattern speeds and manual tracking of visual targets.
• Airborne visual tests assessed visual acquisition distance and sensitivity to course changes of approaching aircraft.

Main Results:

• Laboratory tests measuring flow pattern discrimination and movement-in-depth tracking correlated significantly with bombing accuracy.
• Airborne visual tests demonstrated a correlation with the air-to-air combat win/loss ratio.
• Tracking test results also correlated with the number of missiles fired per combat engagement.

Conclusions:

• Specific visual perception and tracking abilities measured in the lab can predict bombing accuracy in operational flight.
• Airborne visual assessment capabilities are linked to success in air combat scenarios.
• Standard visual acuity and contrast sensitivity tests did not reliably predict operational flying performance.