The Effects of Time Delay and Physical Motion on Manual Flight Control: An In-Flight and Ground-Based Simulation Experiment

An experiment addressed the effects of time delay and physical motion on manual flight control and flying qualities ratings. Flight tasks were presented on a head-up display in a variable-stability NT-33A aircraft. Specified maneuvers were performed under simulated instrument meteorological conditions with variable signal delays added to the flight control system. To assess the effects of physical motion, the same experiment was replicated with the airplane parked on the ground using a digital aerodynamic simulation. Increasing time delay degraded tracking performance more in the no-motion ground-based simulation than in the full-motion in-flight simulation. Similar results occurred for flying qualities ratings.