Navigation and Flight Proficiency under Nap of the Earth Conditions as a Function of Aviator Training and Experience

Fourteen Army rotary wing aviators with varying levels of flight experience flew simulated operational missions in a UH-IH aircraft to determine their proficiency in Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE) navigation and aircraft handling. The mission was to navigate a specified route starting from an initial point (IP) and identify all landing zones (LZ) while staying within 250 meters of the course line. The mean objective Mission Success Score for all pilots tested was .57. This score is a measure constructed to differentially weight then integrate four other performance measures. The component measures are failures to find LZ and IP and two types of course maintenance errors. The probability of finding the IP and all subsequent LZ's was .76 and .69 respectively. Those pilots given additional terrain analysis training, as part of the study, appeared to perform their mission more effectively, in terms of all criteria, than the group which did not receive this training. Pilots with greater flight experience performed slightly less effectively than pilots who were less experienced but were recent graduates of the Aviation School. Based on the results of this study, improvements in work methods and training are suggested.