The Importance of Motion Cues in Spatial Disorientation Training for VFR-Pilots

Positive training effects of motion-based disorientation recovery training have been reported for jet pilots, helicopter pilots, and visual flight rules (VFR) pilots. As fixed-base simulators are part of the usual training environment for VFR pilots, the role of motion cues is crucial for the development of widely applicable antidisorientation training procedures for VFR pilots. This study evaluates the role of motion cues for antidisorientation training. Motion-based training was compared with the same training without motion and a free flight control group, which received no specific training. Forty-two VFR pilots were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 training conditions. Flight profiles differed in the role vestibular cues would play, to assess the impact of the motion-based training for different flight situations. The training included primarily vestibular illusions like spin recoveries, unusual attitude recoveries and pitch-up illusions, and primarily visual illusions like the runway width and slope illusion. Effects were evaluated in a multivariate approach including performance measures, self-report data, and psychophysiological recordings. The results indicate clear-cut positive effects of the motion-based training compared to the control group. In addition, performance of the motion-based training group was significantly superior to the no-motion training group for the motion-oriented profiles. In motion-oriented profiles, the no-motion training group performed worse than the controls in some instances. The positive effect of the motion-based training was also visible in the profile simulating inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which seems to be a primarily visual profile in the first instance. Results are discussed with respect to mental training concepts, which would predict the superiority of motion-based training due to the fact that motion cues are needed to learn new skills for coping with perceptual illusions in which motion plays a role.