Studies of Helicopter Pilot Performance: II The Analysis of Task Dimensions 1

Abstract

Measures of helicopter pilot proficiency were obtained on several hundred student pilots in the Primary and Basic training phases. Measures were based on students' performance on 75 and 76 tasks (items), for the Primary and Basic phases, respectively. Intercorrelations of tasks in each phase were subjected to factor analysis. The 12 factor rotation solutions were presented in detail for each phase, and the 18 and 24 factor rotations solutions were described briefly. In almost all cases the same tasks (e.g., RPM; Altitude) tended to cluster together across different maneuvers. The factors are interpreted in terms of the operations performed for each task, and the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

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