Daytona Beach Campus - College of Aviation

Aeronautical Science Department

Research

earth

The Aeronautical Science Department is committed to the ongoing development and expansion of its research programs. Current research efforts are funded by federal and state agencies, industry, and private foundations. These efforts are dedicated to improving the safety and efficiency of aviation at the state, national, and international levels. The University's combination of flight experienced faculty and students, in combination with extensive simulator capabilities, creates one of the world's best research testbeds.

Research Facilities Include:

Fleet of aircraft and pilots with all levels of skill and experience
High-Altitude Normobaric Training lab
Spatial Disorientation Training Lab
Networked air traffic control simulator
Realtime Meteorological Laboratory
Safe Skies Lab
Advanced Flight Simulation Center


Current Research Activity

Dr. Dan Macchiarella

Dr Macchiarella is conducting research, in coordination with the FAA, is to determine the parameters for the implementation of a synthetic speech system on the flight deck as a means of optimizing communications between air traffic control (ATC) and pilots. The project is titled Synthetic Speech and Visual Data Communications for Flight Deck Use.  This $829K project focuses on how a synthetic speech system can reduce pilots’ need to focus attention heads down on the flight deck, reduce workload, and enhance situation awareness.   The researcher also examines levels of conformity with a synthetic speech system compared to Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) text-only messages and traditional ATC-Pilot voice communications. The research uses Advanced Aviation Training Devices (AATD) and Flight Training Devices (FTD) that incorporate a visual data communication interface that is oriented on the CPDLC message set for communications with ATC.  The desired goal of applying these systems into the NextGen environment is to reduce the time pilots have their attention focused inside of the flight deck and reduce workload.  The research team with its large pool of experienced professional pilots, advance aircraft simulations equipped with glass flight decks, and most uniquely a virtual air traffic simulation for pilot training (i.e., Simulated Automated Flight Training Environment with Virtual Air Traffic [SAFTE-VATTM]) that can create a flight training environment that truly mirrors reality and can be adapted to deliver NextGen type synthetic speech communications.


Dr. Michael Wiggins

Dr Wiggins is developing a databank of scenarios that supports the development of pilot certification training programs (PTS Guidelines) and additional required training (mountain, ADIZ, Thunderstorms, etc). This program should support the addition of industry contributions to the databank and produce a searchable database.

This research has been funded for $50,000.


Professor Ted Beneigh, Wade Lester

Ted and Wade are the Program Director and Program Manger, respectively, of the research concerning the integration of unmanned aircraft into the NextGen airspace system.  This effort began in 2009, and should conclude in 2011.  Their efforts will be in conjunction with several aviation industry partners, including Lockheed-Martin and the Harris Corporation.


Dr. Rob Owen

Professor Rob Owen continues active research in national defense issues, particularly in air warfare, counterinsurgency, and strategy development.  Potomac Books will publish his chapter on "Operation Deliberate Force," as part of a book, This History of Air Warfare, in November 2009.  The Office of Air Force History plans to release his book, The Rise of the Global Airlift Arm of the United States, 1919-2008 sometime in the spring of 2010.  At the same time, Professor Owen is scheduled to present papers to conferences sponsored by the Swedish and Israeli air forces on Air Power in the global discourse and Force Projection, respectively.


Professor Michele Summers Halleran
Principal Investigator for FITS

The FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) research project has generated $2.2 Million USD since its inception in 2002 for ERAU. The current project ($120,000 addition) is slated to end in December 2009. The current tasks are compiling a summary of all FITS deliverables over the life of the project and developing a database of scenarios for the general public to utilize in coordination with the FAA Safety Team.

The FITS philosophy is based on the idea that most general aviation accidents can be attributed to deficiencies in four key areas; aeronautical decision making, risk management, situational awareness, and single pilot resource management.Addressing these key areas should reduce the number of fatal accidents in General Aviation.FITS tenets are to teach these skills using scenario based training, single pilot resource management, and learner centered grading.

Initial results indicate that the pilots completing these courses have the same or better level of aeronautical competency over traditionally trained pilots and a higher level of skills in the 4 key areas: aeronautical decision making, risk management, situational awareness, and single pilot resource management. The FAA is moving to establish this FITS type of training as the standard. Consequently, the entire training system (training and checking) needs to be available to the general aviation community. This includes training tools (syllabi) and Practical Test Standards (PTS) changes that support FITS training. In addition to the aforementioned tools, more guidance is necessary to help CFIs, DPEs and FAA Inspectors train and evaluate FITS scenario-based checkrides.

Dr. Rodney Rogers

An airplane upset is an unexpected aircraft attitude that threatens loss of control and ground impact.  Over the past ten years and more, upsets have been the major cause of air transport hull losses and passenger/crew fatalities.  As a consequence, most airline companies provide their pilots with simulator-based upset recovery training.   However, until recently, no research existed to demonstrate that such training improves a pilot’s ability to control an actual airplane.

For the past three years, Dr. Rodney O. Rogers, Professor of Aeronautical Science, has been involved in research to measure transfer of upset recovery training conducted using flight simulation devices.  The research has been funded by two FAA grants totaling $400,000.  Dr. Cass Howell, Rogers’ colleague in the Aeronautical Science Department, was a co-research on the first of the two grants.  Research funded by the second grant was conducted in partnership with the Environment Tectonics Corporation of Pennsylvania, manufacturer of centrifuge-based flight simulators capable of replicating the G forces encountered in actual upset recovery maneuvering.

Results of the research have been published in three FAA Technical Reports available online.  These papers provide the first experimental evidence that simulator-based upset recovery training improves a pilot’s ability to recovery an actual airplane from a serious upset.  Rogers is currently applying for additional FAA funding which, should it be forthcoming, will allow upset recovery research activities to continue at ERAU.  He is also a member of the International Committee for Aeronautical Training in the Extended Envelop (ICATEE) sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.  The ICATEE committee is charged with preparing a report to recommend changes to general aviation and air transport training which will strengthen pilot skills in upset recovery maneuvering.

 

Dr. Guy Smith

Dr. Smith is working in the preliminary stages of a research project  to evaluate 14 CFR Part 91.211(a)(1) – Supplemental Oxygen – in the ERAU Normobaric Chamber. The concept is to conduct a study to determine whether the requirements of 14CFR Part 91.211(a)(1) are realistic. The study will involve a flight training device or a PCATD inside the normobaric chamber with objective data collected from an eye-tracker device and a cognitive assessment to validate the eye tracker data. The project will be a joint project with an undergraduate research assistant, Mr. Jefferson McMillan, Glenn Harmon from the AS department and Dr. John French from Human Factors Engineering. I am currently exploring funding possibilities.

Dr. Dave Esser

The Second Conference on General Aviation Flight Data Monitoring

An FAA/ASIAS grant was awarded through the Center for General Aviation Research (CGAR).  The grant was to support the development and delivery of the second conference on General Aviation Flight Data Monitoring (GAFDM; the first was held at ERAU Daytona in January 2007). The conference was held as planned August 18th and 19th at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. Over 70 participants representing 50 aviation organizations from around the world were in attendance. 
To view or download the proceedings please go to: http://www.capacg.com/reference.html

Professor Glenn Harmon

Professor Harmon has led Embry Riddle's partnership with Colorado Altitude Training (CAT), a company providing high altitude products to the FAA and other universities, to develop a 10-person unit that would use air machines to extract oxygen from the air in an enclosure creating a low oxygen environment.  Students performing cognitive or motor tasks, or at computer consoles performing flight tasks would experience symptoms and warning signs of hypoxia and correct by donning airline-style oxygen masks like the ones required in cockpits.
Note: For additional information and photos, see Current News.