2022, Volume 28, Issue 4

WORKLOAD OF HELICOPTER PILOTS AND ITS IMPACT ON FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

ANTONI KOPYT¹
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¹Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw University of Technology


Autor korenspondencyjny: ANTONI KOPYT; Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw University of Technology; email: antoni.kopyt@pw.edu.pl

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Streszczenie

Introduction: Various working conditions affect pilots’ physiological and psychological state, directly impacting their flight performance. The present study shows the relationship between workload and pilot performance. The study aimed to evaluate performance in a slalom maneuver task under various workload conditions.

Methods: Twenty Polish Air Force Academy pilots participated in the study. The experiment was performed on the SW-4 helicopter flight simulator. Task A involved no additional workload; task B involved mental workload, including distraction of the pilot; task C involved very poor weather conditions, representing physical workload. Performance was measured based on the recorded flight parameters. Workload was measured using the NASA TLX questionnaire. The structure of the survey provides detailed information about the types of workload and their impact on the subject’s performance.

Results: The results analysis was performed for both performance and pilots’ workload. The highest workload was recorded for task B (56.930), a medium workload for task C (48.842), and the lowest workload for task A (29.860). Finally, performance decreased significantly for tasks B and C.

Discussion: The presented study demonstrates that various workload conditions yield different performance levels. It also emphasizes the need to monitor both pilot performance and psychological state to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of their characteristics.

Słowa kluczowe

workload, NASA TLX, ECG, helicopter pilots, flight simulator