Field-of-View Requirements for Approach and Landing of V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) Aircraft

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Field-of-View Requirements for Approach and Landing of V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) Aircraft

W. F. Clement / R. K. Heffley / W. F. Jewell

A rationale for quantifying fixed wing V/STOL aircraft field of view requirements is developed and illustrated by a variety of examples involving shipboard recovery. The analytic technique employed involves the dynamic modeling of (a) the recovery guidance and control situation, (b) the disturbance environment, (c) the augmented aircraft, (d) the pilot's multiloop control activities, (e) the perceptual behavior of the pilot as affected by the limitations associated with visibility and divided attention, and (f) the resulting geometric properties of informative elements within the visual field. The foregoing factors are combined to enable the analyst to indentify those areas of the field of view which are essential for perception of the cues necessary for guiding and controlling the powered-lift aircraft to a safe recovery. The analytic technique accounts for the combined variability in field of view caused by rolling, pitching, yawing, surging, swaying and heaving degrees of freedom of the aircraft as the pilot attempts to guide and control the aircraft over the recovery area on the moving ship.