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5 Written Assignment: Human Factors Contributions for the Aviation Industry

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Introduction

I feel that the implementation of digital flight controls and instrumentation in aircraft and

how pilots interact with them are the single most influential person-machine relationship that has

contributed to the creation of human factors as a discipline in the aviation industry.

Human Factors in Naval Aviation

Having spent the last 14 years in Naval Aviation, I have had the luxury of experiencing

the transition from analog to digital instruments and flight controls. The advent of digital flight

control computers has significantly helped reduce the occurrence of mishaps in Naval Aviation.

This is due to the implementation of digital instrumentation and its integration into the

computers that control the flight control surfaces and hydraulic servos (Mare & Fu, 2017). All of

this allows the pilot to pay more attention to the few visual displays that are in front of him, so

that he can focus on as few things as possible to help prevent mistakes and possibly mishaps.

By moving away from mechanical linkages for flight controls the Navy has significantly

reduced the amount of mishaps related to the binding of flight controls. The same results are

related to the combination of instruments. By digitally integrating many of them into a few small

screens, it allows the pilot to see more of what is going on in the cockpit without taking his

attention away from other important tasks.

Technological Advancement
 The next advancement in digital flight controls will be the replacement of hydraulically

driven servos (Jensen, Jenney, & Dawson, 2000) for flight controls with electronic servos

(Rosero, Ortega, Aldabas & Romeral, 2007). This will eliminate a common failure point and

place of delay in the flight controls. Hydraulically actuated controls will continue to have

mechanical failure over time, and even though the flight controls computers can display error

codes from them, leakage in cold weather will always be an issue.

Conclusion

Based on the progression I have seen in the electronics in aircraft over the last 16 years, I

feel that each big leap in innovation usually has to do with replacing an electromechanical device

with a completely electronic device. As long as we continue to progress in this fashion moving

away from analog and mechanical devices ultimately, we can mitigate the occurrence of

mishaps.

References
Jensen, S. C., Jenney, G. D., & Dawson, D. (2000). Flight test experience with an
electromechanical actuator on the F-18 systems research aircraft. In Digital Avionics
Systems Conference, 2000. Proceedings. DASC. The 19th (Vol. 1, pp. 2E3-1). IEEE.
Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/886914/

Maré, J. C., & Fu, J. (2017). Review on signal-by-wire and power-by-wire actuation for more
electric aircraft. Chinese Journal of Aeronautics. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1000936117300894

Rosero, J. A., Ortega, J. A., Aldabas, E., & Romeral, L. A. R. L. (2007). Moving towards a more
electric aircraft. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, 22(3), 3-9. Retrieved
from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4145070/