The Visual Technology Research Simulator (VTRS) at the Naval Training Equipment Center was used to study the effects of six factors on carrier-landing training. An in-simulator transfer design was chosen, in which students were trained under various conditions, and then tested under a standard condition that represented maximum realism. The experimental design permitted a relatively large number of variables to be studied, using a relatively small number of student subjects. The subjects were pilots who had no prior carrier-landing experience: 16 recent graduates of Air Force T-38 training, and 16 highly experienced Navy P-3 pilots. Factors investigated were field-of-view, scene detail, platform motion, descent-rate cuing and training task (straight-in approaches vs. circling approaches). Turbulence was included as a factor and pilot type (Navy P-3 vs. Air Force T-38) was also included as a factor to control this source of subject variability. After training under a certain factor-level combination, students were tested on the day, wide field-of-view, circling task with motion and without descent-rate cuing. Results showed that the simulator and training factors generally produced either small differences or no differences at all in transfer effectiveness. There were some advantages of the wide field-of-view and high-detail conditions, but these effects were small and/or short-lived, generally disappearing after a few transfer trials. Training with straight-in approaches resulted in transfer performance that was equal to or better than that produced by training with circling approaches. There were no motion or descent-rate cuing effects on the transfer task.
Simulation and Training for Aircraft Carrier Landings
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