Intended and Unintended Benefits of Advanced Maneuvering and Upset Recovery Training

摘要

The face of corporate aviation and personal travel is in the midst of enormous change, with technological advances on the verge of outpacing the resources available for training pilots to manage the new designs, avionics and integrated systems. Gone are the days when aircraft familiarization and initial training focused on the handling qualities of the machine and the ability of the pilot to interact with the systems. Today, the majority of training for sophisticated aircraft, regardless of size, emphasizes dealing with the automated functions through push-button (touch-screen, trackball, etc.) technology, and monitoring the equipment for the appropriate response. This leaves an ever-widening physical and mental gap between the human operator and the control of the aircraft. This "gap" has been shown to contribute in multiple ways to loss-of-control accidents. The intended benefit of advanced maneuver and upset recovery training, to better prepare pilots to foresee and deal with upset events that could lead to loss of control has been demonstrated. However, most interesting are the unintended benefits of such a training program for owner/operators and pilots of traditional corporate and very light jets. These "unplanned" benefits include a better understanding of the "new" pilot/machine interface, enhanced professionalism, improved cognitive skills, and perhaps most importantly, a renewed focus on the task of flying.