The conspicuity of present-day transport aircraft was determined by measuring in daytime flight the distances at which pilots of one aircraft became aware of another DC-3 air?craft, normally painted and normally equipped, as it approached from various angles on courses which would result in collisions. Also during these collision runs, the threshold distance, ulti?mate distance from which a DC-3 aircraft can be seen with the naked eye, was recorded.nTwo separate collision-course conditions were investigated: the uninformed phase and the informed phase. In the uninformed phase the subject pilot was unaware that he was flying a collision course. Environmental conditions which exist in the cockpit during cruising-flight situations were simulated. In the informed phase the subject pilot was aware that he was fly?ing a collision course but did not know from which direction the other aircraft was approach?ing. Environmental conditions which exist in the cockpit while aircraft are flying in a terminal area were simulated.nThrough the cooperation of the Air Line Pilots Association, participation of 64 subject airline pilots was obtained. Of these, 43 pilots participated in the uninformed phase and 21 pilots in the informed phase. Each pilot flew two collision runs, making a total of 128 test runs.nFour different collision courses were flown. The angles of approach of the target aircraft relative to the subject pilot's airplane were 0° (head-on), 30° left, 60° left, and 100° left. The subject pilot's average detection distance (distance separating the two aircraft on collision courses at the time the-subject pilot detected the approaching airplane) obtained at the four angles of approach varied from 3.4 to 5.4 miles. The data showed no significant difference between the average detection distances obtained from the uninformed and the informed pilots. Average threshold distances varied from 10.8 to 12.4 miles.
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