No hype, Pipistrel’s Hypstair (hipster) was introduced by Tine Tomazic and Gregor Veble at this year’s Electric Aircraft Symposium. The attempt to bring the world’s first certified hybrid aircraft to market is a joint venture by Pipistrel with partners Siemens, the University of Maribor, the University of Pisa and MB Vision, a specialist in providing visual information. Siemens, as might be imagined, is providing an “ultra-light weight integrated drive train” for the aircraft,” Slovenia’s University of Maribor the HIL (hardware in the loop) evaluation for electric motor control testing and dynamic emulation of mechanical loads, Italy’s University of Pisa for evaluation of hybrid technology advantages, and MB Vision for development and integration of the aircraft’s interior and human machine interfaces that will make the information presented to the pilot ideally selected and intuitively perceived. Far removed from the days when homebuilt aircraft advocates drew a chalk outline of the steel tubing they would weld together on the garage floor, the …
Putting The Human in Human Factors
Part of the Green Flight Challenge is the provision of adequate human factors design in the cockpit of the projected airplane. One can only design in so much ergonomic and safety-minded concern for the pilot and passengers. The ultimate human factor is indeed human, a topic Dr. Key Dismukes handled quite ably at the fourth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium. As noted in his NASA resume, “Dr. Dismukes is Chief Scientist for Human Factors in the Human Factors Research & Technology Division at NASA Ames Research Center (CV ). His current research addresses cognitive issues involved in the skilled performance of pilots, their ability to manage challenging situations, and their vulnerability to error. Among the topics investigated by his research group are prospective memory (remembering to perform deferred intentions), management of attention in concurrent task performance, and training crews to analyze their own performance.” His book, The Limits of Expertise: Rethinking Pilot Error and the Causes of Airline Accidents (Ashgate Studies …