Inexpensive Portable Desktop Flight Simulation Task

摘要

A modified recreational flight simulation was tested as part of two recentstudies examining the effects of Dexedrine on sleep deprived aviators. Software and controls for this task cost under $250. Six male and five female UH-60 pilots were sleep deprived for 40 hours twice in a double-blind repeated measures study comparing 10 mg Dexedrine (x3 doses) to placebo. Every 4 hours, subjects flew the profile and were scored on their speed and accuracy of flying a simulated light fixed-wing aircraft through 22 gates under varying wind conditions. In the males, a drug x session interaction (p=0.0361) was due to variability with placebo but not Dexedrine. An auditory reaction time secondary task was added to the female pilots' workload resulting in a consistent (but not statistically significant) trend toward worse performance in the placebo condition. The drawbacks of this crude measure of flight performance must be weighed against the costs and feasibility of high fidelity flight simulation or in-flight research. Detailed task design specifications are provided.