Simulator Design Features for Helicopter Landing on Small Ships

Abstract

The Visual Technology Research Simulator (VTRS) at the Naval Training Equipment Center was used to study the effects of six simulator features on performance for helicopter landings on small ships. The purpose of the experiment was to obtain information relevant to the design of simulators used for skill maintenance and transition training, and to obtain information for making decisions about future transfer-of-training studies. The six simulator equipment factors were ship detail (high-detail deck and hangar markings versus no deck and hangar markings), field of view (VTRS-wide versus reduced SH-60B operational flight trainer field of view), system visual lag (217 msec versus 117 msec), g-seat rate cuing (off versus on), g-seat vibration cuing (off versus on), and collective sound cuing (off versus on). These factors were tested across two levels of seastate and pilot expedience. Pilots who participated in the experiment were experienced Navy H-3 rotary wing pilots. Results indicated large effects of ship detail, moderate effects for visual lag, small effects for field of view, and no meaningful effects for the g-seat factors and collective sound.