MASTER'S
THESIS PROTOCOL
Title:
Head alignment of general aviation pilot
Principal Investigator: Kazuhito
Shimada, M.D.
Resident Instructor, Aerospace Medicine, WSUSOM
Objective:
The purpose of this proposed research is to determine how pilots
(flying and non-flying) align his/her head during actual flight
conditions in a general aviation aircraft.
Subjects:
Five or more subjects will be used for this study, after
obtaining informed consent. All subjects and the
invesitigator will be pilots who have current airmanÕs
certificate suitable for aircraft to fly in this study and
current medical certificate from Federal Aviation Administration.
Subjects will be free to withdraw at any point in the project and
will be offered no remuneration.
Experimental Procedures:
The experiment consists of videotape recording in flight. Flights
for experiment will be made chiefly at Brookville Airport, where
Aviation classes of Wright State University is held. Other
airfield may be used. Subjects will wear a very compact and
light-weight videocamera on their head and have a captainÕs
seat in aircraft. They will act as flying pilots and non-flying
pilots during maneuvers assigned in flight by the investigator.
The maneuvers comprise of turns with bank angles up to 45 degrees.
When the subjects are acting as non-flying pilots, the
investigator will act as a flying pilot. Based on the
change of angle of the picture field, alignment of the head of
subjects will be calculated retrospectively.
Risk Assessment:
There is no need for this study to deviate from normal operation
of general aviation aircraft. The videocamera weighs 70 g
and will not interfere with pilotÕs visual field. Only
pilots who are familiar with the aircraft and airspace in use
will be screened by consent form. Hence, the risks involved
is estimated to be minimal.
Analysis of Data:
The data will be analyzed utilizing basic statistical procedures.
The results will be part of a masterÕs thesis for
aerospace medicine and may be submitted for publication in a
professional journal. However, no individual results will
be used as only deidentified group statistics will be generated.
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