safety standards. Too many and too large doors may pose structural problems; too few and too small exits are safety hazards in that they do not permit the fast evacutation of passengers in an emergency. Escape tests are being made at CAMI using various exit sizes to determine their effects on flow rates and evacuation times. In addition, the results are used to validate a mathematical model which predicts flow rates and evacuations times, and which may be useful for aircraft certification purposes in the future. 3. Investigation of civil aviation crashes to determine injury causes, egress, and survival factors.-Aircraft crashes provide the final evidence for evaluating and improving systems designed to protect aircraft occupants from the result of a crash or hazardous incident. Under this task selected aircraft crashes or incidents are investigated to determine the medical adequacy of emergency evacuations, survival techniques, and impact protection equipment. Emphasis will be placed on the cause of injury or death in order to improve protection system performance. Other works concern Testing and evaluation of crew and passenger oxygen masks and systems for pressurized and nonpressurized light and commercial aircraft, cabin emergency procedures: problems, coordination, and training; development and improvement of techniques for the identification of victims of mass transportation disasters; evaluation of new materials, structures, and equipment for aircraft crash protection; simulation of evacuation from transport aircraft by computer analog; evaluation and testing of single- and multiple-occupant escape and flotation devices the effects of nonlinear impact forces on the human body; and directional auditory signals for aviation. D. AEROMEDICAL FACTORS IN FLIGHT MANAGEMENT ($378,100) 1. Disorientation familiarization and training of pilots.-Disorientation and pilot's vertigo are frequent causes of aviation accidents. A number of techniques and approaches are presently in use for training pilots to avoid disorientation. The interest in this task was generated by AGARD which asked the CAMI scientists to improve the training methods. Information from this task will provide the basis for updating the training and familiarization techniques of all pilots (civilian and military) in order to avoid disorientation, vertigo, and motion sickness. 2. Pilot performance and stress during approach and landings using an airborne visual glide path indicator.-In this task, a "head-up" device, capable of providing the pilot with visual glide path information, will be used to study the capabilities and limitations of the pilot. The data to be recorded will include pilot performance and stress responses as related to operational factors, such as aircraft altitudes, airspeed, and glide path deviations. The results will answer the question whether such a visual aid can increase flight safety by facilitating the pilot's task and reduce inflight stress. 3. Relief from noise-deteriorated speech communication.-Speech interference in flight can cause serious disturbances to pilot performance, and the need to understand transmitted signals both in the aircraft and on the ground is essential. This task is intended to determine the efficiency of various types of communication as training material in order to better understand difficult or distorted speech. The end product of this work will be a set of recorded communications, which can be used as training materials to improve the understanding of radio communications by both the pilots and the air traffic control personnel. Other work concerns Anticollision lights and ability of pilots to avoid a collision, influence of fatigue and sleep loss on performance during disorientation-type stimulation, inflight study of pilot performance as a function of use of a new type attitude indicator designed according to psychophysiological principles, a comparison of pilot performance using a new digital/pointer altimeter format and a conventional altimeter, stimulus parameters of visual approach: slope, using a twocolor VASI. E. PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS. ($269,100). 1. Threshold determination and rate of habituation of the startle respon simulated sonic booms.-Studies of the effects of sonic booms on people continued interest because of supersonic aircraft including the Concorde SST. In order to determine the threshold of irritation and the acceptance of sonic booms, experiments will be made with low boom intensities (1 to 3 pounds-persquare-foot). Psychophysiological measures include galvanic skin response, heart rate, eye blink response and hand steadiness (startle response). The results will be useful to the FAA for establishing standards in regard to maintaining environmental quality and the possible certification of SST type aircraft. 2. Emergency evacuation of disabled travelers.-Handicapped persons have been reluctant to travel by air because of inconvenience and safety factors. Moreover, the airlines had difficulties in accommodating such persons, in particular during emergency conditions, since no data on this subject are available. In order to remedy the situation, new means are being developed and tested which facilitate the emergency evacuation of disabled persons. 3. Aeromedical aspects of environmental quality.-A research program will be established concerning the relationship between aviation medicine and environmental quality. Emphasis will be placed on such factors as the prevention of air and noise pollution and radiation hazards associated with air transport, airports, and airways. These factors will be considered in regard to public acceptance, industrial hygiene, and public health. 4. Audiometrics for aviators.-This task concerns the ability of airmen to communicate in the cockpit and on the ground, and to protect the pilot and passengers in general aviation aircraft against the effects of noise. AVIATION WEATHER R. & D. Mr. MINSHALL. Getting back to aviation weather, who is going to talk on the R. & D.? Mr. ISRAEL. I will. It's a very important program. The real concern wth aviation weather-that is the use of weather for aviation purposes Mr. MINSHALL. Before you start, this is sort of a fettish with me, because 6 or 7 years ago Congressman Lipscomb, of California and I got together a little study. I don't have it with me, but we found that the various agencies of Government-the Army, Navy, and Air Force, what was then the Weather Bureau under the Department of Commerce, your shop, NASA, and other agencies were spending extremely large amounts on weather research. Yet you could call up the Weather Bureau as you well know, and not find out what is going to happen tomorrow. That figure has probably gone up to about $1 billion by now. Mr. ISRAEL. Perhaps because of your actions there is now a specific delineation of responsibilities so that the concern with aviation weather-and aviation weather is not just area forecasts. Mr. MINSHALL. You have $1.7 million this year for aviation weather R. & D. Last year it was $2.2 million and the year before $1.4 million. What have you learned with that money? Mr. ISRAEL. I will give you a list. Our concern is with more than area weather. It has to do with visibility on runways, et cetera. Mr. MINSHALL. I understand that, but that is still a lot of money. Mr. ISRAEL. In 1974, the following things occurred that I believe are significant. We made progress in the testing of a numerical display panel so that the output of the weather instruments at a flight service station are automatically presented to the personnel there and do not require a major collection effort. It is not an automatic system. It's the semiautomatic presentation o" the weather to the flight service station personnel to cut down their workload. Mr. MINSHALL. Hasn't the Department of Commerce had something like this for a long time? Mr. ISRAEL. No, sir. The point is that things that pertain to aviation weather are our responsibility. For research on aviation weather foretransfer money in an interagency agreement to the Depart ment of Commerce. FAA has the basic aviation responsibility. We must fund anything that is directed toward aviation weather. Because of a general inability to collect information on weather and fog conditions in mountain passes, we have completed a test using a remote TV camera to monitor the visibility in a mountain pass. That project has been completed. One of the major problems we have with aviation weather is the inability to measure wind shear. A system using an acoustic device for such a determination has been installed in Stapleton Airport. We are getting experience there in measuring wind shear. AUTOMATIC WEATHER STATIONS You have also heard the possibility of the long-term automation of flight stations functions. Part of this program is to have an automatic weather station. That poses a number of technical problems. How do you measure all the parameters and particularly visibility and cloud cover? The latter is a particularly difficult one. We have a program underway in which we reimburse the Weather Bureau to conduct. the R. & D. on a completely automatic weather reporting station. When that development is completed and a full evaluation carried out, perhaps in 5 years, this could effect significant savings in personnel at remote weather stations. Mr. MINSHALL. Doesn't the military have systems like that? Mr. ISRAEL. There are automatic systems to measure RVR, but there is no complete automatic remote weather station. We are talking about the unique requirements for civil airports. Every place where the military has an airport they have observers there. We are talking about collecting weather at a place where there would not be any people. Mr. MINSHALL. Are you aware that the military and the Navy have buoys out in the ocean that give automatic weather information? Mr. ISRAEL. They measure some of the parameters, but not, I believe, ceiling, visibility, and precipitation conditions. You can readily measure temperature and dew point. Mr. MINSHALL. Under aviation weather for your R. & D. item you say: This provides for a program coordinated with the Departments of Defense and Commerce to modernize the acquisition, processing, dissemination, and display of aviation weather, tailored to the users. Mr. ISRAEL. The succeeding pages point out the specific areas of interest: runway visual range, clear air turbulence, wind shear, et cetera. BREAKDOWN OF AVIATION WEATHER RESEARCH Mr. MINSHALL. In 1973 you spent $1.4 million on aviation weather. I would like a breakout of just how you spent that money. In 1971 you asked for $2.2 million. I would like a breakout of how you spent that money, how much was contracted out to other people and how much was done in-house. I would like also a breakout on how you plan to spend the $1.7 million this year. Mr. ISRAEL. I will provide that for the record. [The information follows:] A resume of our FY 1973, 1974 and 1975 Aviation Weather programs are as follows: FY 1973 Appropriation $1,760,000 In-House Costs $625,000 Contract Funding $1,135,000 Contractual efforts included: A technique was developed which combined the climatology of a given terminal area and the existing weather conditions to provide a forecast of ceiling and visibility. The National Weather Service has implemented this technique in providing forecasts to aviation users. A semi-automated weather observation station was adapted to use in limited aviation weather reporting stations at selected Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control towers to provide controllers with rapid weather reports with minimum manual observation and interruption to air traffic control duties. A test program to monitor visibility conditions in mountain passes utilizing closed circuit TV techniques was initiated. This effort evaluated methods of providing general aviation pilots with advance information of conditions in mountain passes which are subject to extremely rapid changes in weather and visibility conditions. The end product of this effort was production specifications for TV type monitoring equipment. FY 1974 Appropriation $1,999,000 Contractual efforts included: Contract Funding $1,395,000 Development and testing of a feasibility model of a wind shear measurement system to ascertain the validity and utility of providing pilots with advance warning of wind patterns that could interfere with landing operations. Test results were positive and further efforts planned for FY 1975. Work was initiated on the development of a plan for integrating weather data into the Upgraded Third Generation Air Traffic Control System. The plan will be based upon a complete evaluation of the current weather data support and its relationship to the needs of the National Airspace System. The currency, accuracy and redundancy for the existing weather data base will be evaluated, and the capabilities and potential of new sources of weather data will be incorporated within the plan. Design of an Improved Meteorological System for the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center was initiated. The design is being based upon an evaluation of technical options and the needs of the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center meteorological staff, and will result in functional specifications for a prototype system. This system will provide current forecasts and meteorological information for any portion of the United States for use in directing air traffic flow. A slant range visibility measuring system was installed at a newly established test bed at NAFEC. This visibility system is being utilized to ascertain if visibility data can be obtained that will permit advising a pilot at which altitude he will be able to observe the approach lighting system. FY 1975 Request $1,765,000 In-House Costs $495,000 Contractual efforts will include: Contract Funding $1,270,000 Initiation of the design and fabrication of a prototype Aviation Automatic Weather Observation system (AV-AWOS) capable of measuring, displaying and transmitting all weather data of the type necessary for providing pilot briefings. Existing Weather Bureau automatic weather observation systems do not include all the necessary parameters required for aviation use. The AV-AWOS is a key element in the plan to automate Flight Service Stations in that it will provide the necessary data to unmanned locations. At manned locations it will provide for workload reduction through the elimination of manual observations. The design and procurement of a prototype wind shear measuring system will be initiated. This system is an outgrowth of the feasibility model tested in FY 1974 and will lead to the preparation of production specifications. This type of system is vital to provide the pilot with advance warning of the location of dangerous wind patterns that could interfere with landing patterns. 32-542 O 74-46 |