Transfer of Training on the Vertical Motion Simulator

This paper describes a quasi-transfer-of-training study in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS). Sixty-one general aviation pilots trained on four challengingcommercial transport tasks under one of four different motion conditions: no motion, small hexapod, large hexapod, and VMS motion. Then, every pilot repeated the tasks in a check with VMS motion to determine if training with different motion conditions had an effect on task performance. New objective motion criter ia guided the selection of the motion parameters for the small and large hexapod conditions. Considering resu lts that were statistically significant, or marginally significant, the motion condition used in training affected 1) longitudinal and lateral touchdown position; 2) the number of secondary stall warnings in a stall recov ery; 3) pilot ratings of motion utility and maximum load factor obtained in an overbanked upset recovery; an d 4) pilot ratings of motion utility and pedal input reaction time in the engine-out-on-takeoff task. Sinc e the training motion conditions revealed statistical differences on objective measures in all the tasks pe rformed in the VMS motion check, with some in the direction not predicted, trainers should be cautious not to oversimplify the effects of platform motion. Evidence suggests that the new objective motion criteria may off er valid standardization benefits, as increases in the training motion fidelity, as predicted by the two conditions covered by the criteria, resulted in expected trends in pilot ratings and objective performance measures afte r transfer.