Multi-Sensory Methods to Aid Pilot Spatial Orientation and Upset Recovery in Real Flight

The goal of the spatial orientation enhancement system (SOES) research program was to develop, integrate, evaluate, and refine a multi-sensory system that provides spatial orientation cues to pilots to avoid loss of control due to spatial disorientation and loss of situation awareness. The spatial orientation enhancement (SOES) program combined the existing concept of synthetic vision and enhanced the inherent spatial orientation capabilities of that system with tactile and audio cues to convey aircraft attitude. This paper describes part III of a three part study. This part tested general aviation (GA) maneuvers using a GA pilot population. Part I was a simulation experiment in the dynamic environment simulator (DES), testing military maneuvers using an F-22 flight model. Part II was a flight test of military maneuvers onboard the Harvard Mark IV operated by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Funding was provided by the NASA Langley Research Center under the aviation safety program (AvSP), the US Air Force Research laboratory (AFRL), and Rockwell Collins