Effects of Heat Stress and an Encumbered Aviator Uniform on Flight Performance in a UH-60 Helicopter Simulator

The effects on flight performance of the four combinations of an unencumbered level-zero MOPP0 aviator battle dress uniform and encumbered MOPP4 over ABDU flight ensemble in cool and hot UH-60 simulator cockpit conditions were evaluated. This report describes the flight performance results. Every 30 minutes, the right seat pilot encountered instrument meteorological conditions and ascended to 2000 feet to perform a 10-minute set of standard maneuvers. After each iteration of the set of standard maneuvers, the pilot returned to nap-of-the-earth (NOE) and contour flight between control points. The right seat pilot also performed four 1-minute hovers (HOVs) and hover turns (HOVTs). The simulator's data acquisition system captured relevant combinations of airspeed, altitude, turn and climb rates, trim, and roll for each type of flight maneuver, as well as cyclic and collective inputs during HOV and HOVT. The encumbered MOPP4 uniform was associated with reduced averaged composite scores (ACS) for five of eight maneuvers. ACS values were significantly lower for 5 of 29 separately scored flight systems parameters. The hot temperature condition reduced the ACS for only one (RSRT) of eight maneuvers. For the iterations of the maneuvers flown with AFOS on, the encumbered MOPP4 ensemble was associated with significantly lower ACS for 3 of 8 maneuvers and 5 of the 29 separately scored flight parameters. With AFCS off, the encumbered MOPP4 uniform significantly degraded the composite ACS for 2 of 4 maneuvers comprising the set of standard maneuvers that were alternately flown with AFCS off and 5 of 17 separately scored flight parameters. The hot temperature was associated with reduced composite ACS values for two of the four flight maneuvers.Army Aeromedical Research Lab Fort Rucker Al is the author of 'Effects of Heat Stress and an Encumbered Aviator Uniform on Flight Performance in a UH-60 Helicopter Simulator' with ISBN 9781423567127 and ISBN 1423567129.