Reports by Systems Technology, Inc., in Support of Carrier-Landing Research in the Visual Technology Research Simulator.

Abstract : The following work was undertaken: (1) Development of a quasi-random turbulence model. This model was preferred to the one provided initially with the VTRS system because it enabled better analysis of pilot responses to turbulence inputs. The STI model is expected to be appropriate for tasks other than carrier landings and for simulations of other aircraft types. (2) Modification of the T-2C simulation to more closely represent the A-7 and F-18 aircraft. (3) Application and evaluation of STI's Non-Intrusive Pilot Identification Program (NIPIP), which was developed to estimate the pilot's input-output describing function and combined pilot-vehicle performance parameters such as crossover frequency and phase margin by using a time domain model of the pilot and a least-squares identification algorithm. NIPIP functions in real-time and uses a sliding time window to maintain freshness in the data; thus time-varying characteristics in the pilot's control strategy can be measured.