Comments on: Psychology and the Instrument Panel http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:30:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: jayessell http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-308275 jayessell Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:40:43 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-308275 Not aircraft related, but the Andrea Doria sinking is blamed on the knob on the radarscope! According to "Engineering Disasters", a $0.10 lightbulb to illuminate the range multipler knob would have prevented collision with the other ship. Not aircraft related, but the Andrea Doria sinking is blamed on the knob on the radarscope!

According to “Engineering Disasters”, a $0.10 lightbulb to illuminate the range multipler knob would have prevented collision with the other ship.

]]> By: Blurgle http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-307278 Blurgle Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:14:48 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-307278 Usability has been a factor in aircraft design and aircraft accident investigation for decades. One notable accident near Seattle in 1956 took place because the flight engineer left the cowl gills open on takeoff, causing flutter that made the handling pilot think the flaps were dangerously asymmetrical. Afraid to turn (which with asymmetric flaps would have caused a crash), the pilot ditched the aircraft in Puget Sound; everyone got out, but five people died of hypothermia in the 15 minutes it took rescuers to reach them. The engineer had previously worked on aircraft where the cowl gill switch was moved upwards to close them, but on this Stratocruiser the cowl gill switch had to be moved downwards. He knew that but when under pressure (during takeoff) he reverted back to his prior learning. Many aircraft accidents in the 40s and 50s were caused by designers changing specifications for no real reason, causing pilots and flight engineers to make mistakes based on years of prior experience. Altimeters would be moved from place to place, airspeed indicators would be calibrated slightly differently, etc., etc. Designers had to learn not to try to fix what wasn't broken, and not to deliberately move things around just for the sake of making a new model look like a new model. Usability has been a factor in aircraft design and aircraft accident investigation for decades. One notable accident near Seattle in 1956 took place because the flight engineer left the cowl gills open on takeoff, causing flutter that made the handling pilot think the flaps were dangerously asymmetrical. Afraid to turn (which with asymmetric flaps would have caused a crash), the pilot ditched the aircraft in Puget Sound; everyone got out, but five people died of hypothermia in the 15 minutes it took rescuers to reach them. The engineer had previously worked on aircraft where the cowl gill switch was moved upwards to close them, but on this Stratocruiser the cowl gill switch had to be moved downwards. He knew that but when under pressure (during takeoff) he reverted back to his prior learning.

Many aircraft accidents in the 40s and 50s were caused by designers changing specifications for no real reason, causing pilots and flight engineers to make mistakes based on years of prior experience. Altimeters would be moved from place to place, airspeed indicators would be calibrated slightly differently, etc., etc. Designers had to learn not to try to fix what wasn’t broken, and not to deliberately move things around just for the sake of making a new model look like a new model.

]]> By: Charlie http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-305936 Charlie Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:46:17 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-305936 No doubt, but it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to reverse it. Now they are digital, but I wonder if they ever decided to change that. No doubt, but it doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to reverse it. Now they are digital, but I wonder if they ever decided to change that.

]]> By: glindsey http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-305835 glindsey Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:38:21 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/06/psychology-and-the-instrument-panel/#comment-305835 Of course, the real reason for the different directions on the electric meter was mechanical: the dials were hooked to interlocking gears, so each gear moved in the opposite direction as the ones it was locked to. Of course, the real reason for the different directions on the electric meter was mechanical: the dials were hooked to interlocking gears, so each gear moved in the opposite direction as the ones it was locked to.

]]>