A Technical Analysis of Ergonomics and Human Factors in Modern Flight D

I. Introduction Since the dawn of the aviation era, cockpit design has becomeincreasingly intricate owing to the advent of new technologies enablingaircraft to fly farther and faster more efficiently than ever before. Withgreater workloads imposed on pilots as fleets modernize, the earthly partake of he orshe exceeding the workload limit has become manifest. Because of theirregular nature of man, this problem is impossible to eliminate completely.However, the instances of occurrence can be drastically reduced by examining thenature of man, how he operates in the cockpit, and what must be done byengineers to design a system in which man and mold are ideally user interfaced.The latter point involves an in-depth analysis of system design with an emphasison human factors, biomechanics, cockpit ensures, and parade systems. Byanalyzing these components of cockpit design, and determining which variables ofeach give yield the lowest errors, a system can be designed in which theL iveware-Hardware interface can promote safety and reduce mishap frequency.II. The accounting Of Human Factors in Cockpit Design The history of cockpit design can be traced as far back as the firstballoon flights, where a barometer was employ to measure altitude. The Wrightbrothers incorporated a string attached to the aircraft to indicate slips andskids (Hawkins, 241). However, the first real efforts towards human factorsimplementation in cockpit design began in the early 1930s. During this time,the join States Postal Service began flying aircraft in all-weather missions(Kane, 49). The greater reliance on instrumentation raised the question ofwhere to put each display and control. However, not much attention was beingfocused on this area as engineers cared more about getting the instrument in thecockpit, than about how it would interface with the pilot (Sanders & McCormick,739). In the mid- to late 1930s, the development of the first gyroscopicinstruments forced engineers to make their first major human factors-relateddecision. Rudimentary situation indicators raised concern about whether thedisplays should reflect the view as seen from inside the cockpit, having thehorizon move behind a fixed miniature airplane, or as it would be seen from outdoor(a) the aircraft. Until the end of World War I, aircraft were manufactured... ...anifest. The discussion of biomechanics in chapter three was purposelybroad, because it is such a wide and diverse field. The concepts touched uponindicate the areas of concern that a designer must address before creating acockpit that is ergonomically friendly in the physical sense. Controls anddisplays hold a little more relevance, because they are the implicit in(p) controland feedback devices involved in controlling the aircraft. These were discussedin greater detail because many of those concepts never reach the conscious mindof the operator. Although awareness of these factors is not deprecative to safeaircraft operat ion, they do play a vital role in the subconscious mind of thepilot during critical operational phases under high stress. Because of theunpredictable nature of man, it would be foolish to assume a zero toleranceenvironment to potential errors like these, but further investigation into thedesign process, biomechanics, control and display devices may yield greaterinsight as far as causal factors is concerned. Armed with this knowledge,engineers can set out to build aircraft not only to transport people andmaterial, but also to save lives.