Human Factors Engineering Evaluation of the CH-47F Horizontal Situation Display Hover

Abstract : A crew station working group demonstration was conducted on the manual flight control effectiveness and usability of the simulated CH-47F Horizontal Situation Display Hover (HSDH) pilot visual interface. The study compared three HSDH display configurations: (1) the existing CH-47F baseline HSDH, (2) a proposed HSDH redesign, and (3) a default decluttered configuration of the proposed HSDH redesign. Eight career pilots evaluated the HSDH usability under simulated brownout visual conditions for six different hover and landing tasks. Usability was assessed along four dimensions, including cockpit visual gaze, aircraft control, pilot workload, and pilot vehicle interface preference for ease of use and effectiveness of information presentation. Crew gaze analyses converged to indicate that pilots had a collective reduction in the amount of visual workload for the proposed and decluttered HSDH compared to the baseline. Aircraft control analyses indicated that pilots had gains in the overall aviating effectiveness while flying with the proposed and decluttered HSDH. Crews reported that workload demands were at acceptable levels while using the new displays during all mission tasks included in the study. Pilot feedback indicated that the interface readability of the new displays was effectively designed and presented. Pilots highly recommended the overall design of the proposed HSDH and voted unanimously for its immediate implementation.