A Comparison of AH-64D and OH-58D Pilot Attitudes Toward Glass Cockpit Crewstation Designs

Abstract : Computers and multifunction displays are an integral part of several current Army rotary-wing aircraft. The cockpit design with these types of systems is sometimes called the "glass cockpit." Multifunction displays and computers are also an integral part of the cockpit designs for planned future aircraft. A recent study by Rash et al. (2001) noted that aircraft with a glass cockpit design have higher accident rates than corresponding aircraft with the traditional cockpit design. This finding suggested that the details of crewstation design needed to be examined. To identify significant differences, this study assessed pilots' attitudes toward glass cockpit designs in the AH-64D Apache and OH-5SD Kiowa helicopters. The study compared the opinions of pilots in these two glass cockpit designs to identify which aspects of their respective cockpits were most favorable or troublesome to the pilots. The results of the study identify which areas of cockpit design require further investigation.