A new source for vestibular illusions in high agility aircraft

The enhanced maneuverability aircraft of the future will expose pilots to combinations of conventional translational accelerations as well as extraordinary angular accelerations. This flight regime, combined with the intense concentration required for combat maneuvering, will make motion-induced illusions more perilous than in existing aircraft. Although there are many causes for disorientation, theoretical analysis indicates two in particular, the "G-excess" and "cross-coupling" illusions, may be invoked by a new and distinctly different stimulus. These two illusions, which are both typically induced by motion of the pilot's head, may in addition be created by rotation of the aircraft with respect to its flight path. After comparing typical pilot head movements to projected decoupled angular motion capabilities of supermaneuverable aircraft, we conclude that the potential exists for G-excess or cross-coupling illusions in a high agility aircraft independent of pilot head motion with respect to the aircraft.