Comparison of pilot recovery and response times in two types of cockpits

Abstract

According to general aviation manufacturers, all aircraft rolling off the assembly line are or will be equipped with next-generation electronic flight instrument cockpits, called 'glass' cockpits. Because most pilots were trained with older analog displays, it becomes imperative to find out what human factors issues the pilots will encounter when they transition to glass displays. A comparative study was carried out in a general aviation aircraft simulator between instrumentation of the type used in conventional and glass cockpits for recovery from unusual attitudes. Glass displays showed longer recovery time than round-dial displays. Low-time pilots judged analog displays as more usable than glass displays. Suggestions are made to design a hybrid display of round dial and vertical tapes as well as examine unusual attitude training methods more closely. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.