Thesis (LL.M.). / Written for the Dept. of Institute of Air and Space Law. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/09/04). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-115). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Prasad, JVR; Committee Member: Costello, Mark; Committee Member: Johnson, Eric; Committee Member: Schrage, Daniel; Committee Member: Vela, Patricio. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89).

M.Ing. / Sustained or long endurance solar powered flight is defined as an aircraft capable of main- taining flight through multiple day-night flight cycles, using only solar power and rechargable energy stores. The project is focused on developing solar powered flight theory and real-world unmanned aerial vehicle implementations. The important aspects of system design are es- tablished and studied at a fundamental theoretical level. A preliminary design is conducted with endurance optimisation as the main aim. The optimisation process aims to establish a theoretical basis for sustained solar powered flight. The project is started with a feasibility and relevance study. A literature study was used to gather the required theoretical information. A novel theoretical preliminary design basis is conducted. The study is aimed at answering many questions in the field. The study is the first to show how previously varied aircraft from 3 m to 80 m are valid solutions to the long endurance flight requirement. The optimisation results correlates well with the current state-of-the-art. The theoretical models were then characterised through the development of two unmanned aerial vehicles. The development required a multidisciplinary integration of various fields. The development process was characterised and discussed. Flight automation was successfully integrated into the system. Multiple test flights were conducted. An interpretation of multi- faceted results are given. This project has contributed to international theory regarding solar powered and sustained endurance aircraft. Many specific contributions were made to the field. The project has achieved multiple unofficial records from the flight tests in the Southern Hemisphere and African continent.

Commercial air travel is regarded as the safest mode of transportation known to humankind; however, every year people lose their lives from aircraft accidents and incidents. In addition, the financial impact of an air disaster can destroy an airline organisation. Studies have found that in adverse events involving highly advanced aircraft employing complex automation, human factor issues, and particularly pilot training, continue to play a significant causal role. Special attention should therefore be paid to the training of airline pilots, who are ultimately the last line of defence in aircraft operations. Airline pilots’ perceptions of the training climate associated with advanced aircraft can be a pervasive and powerful determinant of training outcomes and eventual flight deck behaviour. The study undertook to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure airline pilots’ perceptions of the training climate associated with advanced aircraft equipped with highly complex automation. The goal was to construct a questionnaire by operationalizing an unobserved hypothesised construct (perceptions of the advanced automated aircraft training climate) based on three levels of analysis (the microsphere, mesosphere and macrosphere). The study also attempted to explore the statistical relationship between the demographic variables of the respondents and the latent factors of the construct. In order to meet the research objectives, the study began with a thorough review of the current literature on the topic to develop a systems model of the main construct under investigation. The review included a critique of the theory on organisational climate, learning, training and education, of historical data on aircraft automation, of human factors, and of aircraft accident investigation principles and case studies. The objectives of the research were fulfilled by strictly observing a positivist paradigm, and engaging in a quantitative exploration, triangulating methods with data captured from a purposive sample of the target population. The empirical study was completed in four phases. Firstly, the research construct was operationalized and the items in the proposed questionnaire validated by a panel of subject matter experts using Lawshe’s (1975) content validity ratio (CVR) technique. Inter-rater bias was assessed using Cochran’s Q test. This application resulted in the retention of 42 items. Secondly, factor analysis and item analysis was performed on the responses of the respondents for the development of the final 33 item measurement instrument. Thirdly, to explore the relationship between the demographic variables and the latent factors of the main construct, an appropriate non-parametric family of statistics was selected to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena associated with the data. Finally, a logistic regression analysis that included specific demographic variables was performed for the development of a model to predict a pilot’s perception of the training climate associated with advanced automated aircraft. A non-probability purposive sample of 17 subject matter experts and 229 qualified South African airline pilots was used to accomplish the goals of the study. The underlying structure of the advanced Automated Aircraft Training Climate Questionnaire (AATC-Q) was derived from the results of a Principal Axis Factor (PAF) analysis using a promax (Kappa-4) rotation. The number of factors extracted from the data set was based on a modified version of Horn’s (1965) parallel analysis, namely the Monte Carlo simulation algorithm designed by O’Connor (2000). Three core factors explained most of the underlying variability in the main construct. The first factor was a composite at the macro and meso levels of analysis, whilst the second and third factors became fragmented at the micro level of analysis. These three factors were then labelled Organisational Professionalism, Intrinsic Motivation and Individual Control of Training Outcomes. The quality and rigour of the derived scale were demonstrated by its content and construct validity. Overall, satisfactory results from computing Cronbach’s coefficient alpha showed that the measurement scale was also reliable. The effect of the demographic variables on airline pilots’ perceptions of the advanced automated aircraft training climate was determined by computing relationships and comparing the responses from different categorised subsets with one another, by means of a non-parametric MANOVA and non-parametric analysis of variance. The results of these tests revealed that Flight Deck Position, Size of the Airline, Computer Literacy and Flight Experience had a significant effect on a pilot’s perception of the training climate. Results from a logistic regression model indicated that the interaction between pilots’ experiences and their perceived level of computer literacy (on a sigmoid curve), their actual experience in advanced aircraft, and their preferences for route and simulator training, were related to whether a pilot perceived the advanced aircraft training climate as favourable or not. The overall percentage of cases for which the dependent variable was correctly predicted by the regression model was computed at 63.8%. This study represents a vital step toward an understanding of the dimensionality of the learning, education and training for, and the actual operation of, highly advanced commercial aircraft, which employ complex automation. The results provide sufficient empirical evidence to suggest that the research findings may be of particular interest to aviation psychologists, aviation safety practitioners, and airlines engaged in training pilots to operate advanced aircraft. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

The fact that pilots are not physically situated in the aircraft for UAS operations makes the current standards applicable to manned aircraft not suitable for UAS operations (FAA, 2013). FAA (2013:18) states that ―removing the pilot from the aircraft creates a series of performance considerations between manned and unmanned aircraft that need to be fully researched and understood to determine acceptability and potential impact on safe operations in the NAS. According to ERSG (2013), not all technologies necessary to ensure the safe integration of civil UASs into civilian airspace are available today. The extrapolation that can be made based on the above arguments is that advancement of UAS technologies will more likely have a significant bearing on the safe integration of UASs into civilian airspace. Therefore, as an identified research gap, the research/main objective of this research is to identify future technological factors affecting Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Republic of South Africa leading towards the year 2025.

This work tests the validity of using a commercial cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) counter (CCNc) on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft. The CCNc was suitable for aircraft work with sta- ble and repeatable supersaturation, temperature and pressure relationships. The sample architecture of the aircraft fitted CCNc was found to transmit particles with acceptable losses in the diameter range of interest as was a pressure control device designed for airborne work. Rosemount inlets, used to sample aerosol, were found to be sensitive to particle density resulting in disparate aerosol being sam- pled with different efficiencies. In dust dominated aerosol inlet efficiency peaks at 10.24 at an optical diameter of 2.91 μm, with a minimum inlet efficiency between 1.78 and 1.51 at 0.28μm. In less dense aerosol inlets sample representatively below 0.6 μm and comparably below 1.0 μm. The thorough testing of the CCNc, associated sampling architecture and mea- surement strategies, enabled vertical and horizontal CCN to be investigated along with other aerosol and cloud microphysical properties in the Southern Equato- rial Pacific (SEP). The primary source of particulates was the South American continent, with sulphate dominating composition. There were strong gradients in aerosol and gas phase chemistry concentration with distance from the coast and in the cloud microphysics measurements where highest droplet numbers and smallest diameters were close to the coast. These data represent an important validatory and parameterisation data set for models of all scales. CCN data were used to calculate the aerosol hygroscopicity parameter, the mean project value, κ, was 0.21 ± 0.18 . There was no evident variation in hygroscopicity with distance from the Chilean coastline suggesting a single dominant source and a well mixed boundary layer up to 907km to the west. CCN measurements were also com- pared to predictions from multiple models of different composition and mixing state assumptions. The best CCN closure used an external mixture of inorganic and organic aerosol components, with a modelled to observed ratio of 1.37 ± 0.32. It was hypothesised that this large ratio and the relatively low bulk hy- groscopicity was influenced by an external mixture. Incorporating this external mixture is imperative if CCN are to be accurately modelled and any subsequent cloud processes accurately captured.

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