Examining the Effects of Guidance Symbology, Display Size, and Field of View on Flight Performance and Situation Awareness

Abstract

Two experiments conducted in a high-fidelity flight simulator examined the effects of guidance symbology, display size, and field of view (FOV) on flight performance and situation awareness within a Synthetic Vision System (SVS). In Experiment 1, 18 pilots flew highlighted and lowlighted tunnel-in-the-sky displays and a less-cluttered follow-me-aircraft (FMA) through a series of curved approaches over rugged terrain. The results revealed that both tunnels supported better flightpath tracking than the FMA due to the availability of more preview information. Increasing tunnel intensity had no benefit on tracking, and in fact, traffic awareness was degraded. In Experiment 2, 24 pilots flew a lowlighted tunnel display configured according to different display sizes (small or large) and FOVs (30° or 60°). Measures of flightpath tracking and terrain awareness generally favored the smaller display and the 60° FOV.