Pilot Performance Based Selection of Engine Display Features

Abstract

Two tests were conducted to evaluate enhancements to the operator interface of the C-5 AMP engine display format. Proposed enhancements of interest were the addition of a grey filled arc within the engine gauges to reflect current state, the addition of a red box to indicate a shutdown engine, and the addition of scale markings to N1 and fuel flow gauges. The objective of the tests were to 1) evaluate the addition of the grey arc to aid in N1 determination and engine-out recognition 2) evaluate the addition of the “red box” graphic to aid in engine-out recognition and 3) evaluate scale markings as an aid for setting target N1 and fuel flow values. The first test involved presentation of one of four engine format variants to the subjects for 75 to 360 milliseconds. Subjects reported N1 and any engine that might be shutdown. The addition of the grey filled arc and red box had a significant effect on N1 determination. The grey filled arc did not improve engine out recognition but the red box did. Addition of grey arcs to all gauges showed no significant improvement over having that feature on N1 alone. In the second test subjects set a target fuel flow or N1 value for 4 engines in the shortest time possible with and without scale markings. The addition of scale markings significantly improved time to set target N1.