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Two earlier studies conducted in the framework of the Federal Aviation Administration/Volpe Flight Simulator Human Factors Program examining the effect of simulator motion on recurrent training and evaluation of airline pilots have found that in the presence of a state-of-the-art visual systems, motion provided by a six-degree-of-freedom platform-motion system only minimally affected evaluation, and did not benefit training, of pilots that were familiar with the airplane. This paper gives preliminary results of a study on the effect of simulator platform motion on initial training of airline pilots that have never flown the simulated airplane.

A quasi-transfer experiment tested the effect of simulator motion on recurrent evaluation and training of airline pilots. Two groups of twenty B747-400 pilots were randomly assigned to a flight simulator with or without platform motion. In three phases, they flew four maneuvers designed to reveal differences due to motion. In the first phase, termed Evaluation, the two groups flew the maneuvers as they would in a check ride. In the second phase, termed Training, the two groups flew the maneuvers repetitively and were given feedback on their performance. In the third phase, termed Quasi-Transfer, both groups flew the tasks again, but both in the simulator with motion (quasitransfer instead of real transfer to the airplane). This was to determine whether or not their previous training with or without motion made any difference. Statistically significant effects of both motion and the phase of experiment were found for all four maneuvers. Platform motion was shown to make a difference in Evaluation, but was not found to be of benefit in Training. Results of this study and the previous hexapod motion research should assist the FAA in determining future research directions in the effort to develop motion requirements for today's airline evaluation and training needs.

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