Head Posture of Helicopter Pilots During Visual Flight: A New Hypothesis for the Head Tilt Associated With Banking Aircraft

摘要

Head azimuth, pitch, and lateral tilt of four pilots controlling a Lynx helicopter through multiple slalom maneuvers under visual flight conditions are reported and analyzed. Pilot A performed the maneuver ii times, Pilot B performed it 12 times, Pilot C performed it 8 times, and Pilot D performed it 12 times. The specifics of the slalom maneuver, two 900 right turns followed by two 900 left turns, are unambiguously reflected in the head motions. As the aircraft turned twice to the right then twice to the left, the head turned twice to the right then twice to the left, presumably to enable the pilot to see where the aircraft was going. Head azimuth was highly correlated with head tilt: When the head turned to the right, it tilted to the left; and when the head turned to the left, it tilted to the right. Furthermore, the correlation between head tilt and pitch was highly reliable: When the head tilted either to the left or to the right, it pitched up. On the other hand, the correlation between azimuth and pitch was inconsistent and variable. The pattern of reliable correlations among head posture suggests mechanisms that might help explain the opto-kinetic cervical reflex.