<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Most emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft feature distributed electric propulsion systems with automation features that simplify operations for future pilots. In theory, increasing automation levels should reduce pilot workload, decrease training time, and improve performance consistency. Air Education and Training Command Detachment 62 (AETC/Det 62) sought to test this theory as part of a larger study involving 70+ participants, two eVTOL platform simulators, and multimodal assessments of flight performance. In the present report, we compared expert ratings of flight performance of pilots who do not have prior pilot experience or training (herein referred to as ab initio pilots; i.e., 0 flight hours) to those of experienced pilots (i.e., &gt;300 flight hours) in either a semi-automated or highly-automated simulated eVTOL platform. All participants received a brief orientation of the controls, then flew a scripted flight profile four times with guidance from an instructor pilot. The fourth and final flight profile was flown without any instructional guidance in order to assess unassisted performance. Instructor pilots rated the quality of hover, takeoff, en-route navigation, and approach and landing maneuvers on a 4-point scale. Experienced pilots overall outperformed ab initio pilots; however, the two groups showed similar learning trajectories for basic eVTOL flight operations over a 2-hour period of learning. In some cases (e.g., takeoff in the highly-automated platform), ab initio pilots reached similar performance levels as experienced pilots during the learning profile. Although the present study focused only on basic flight skills, results suggest that both ab initio and experienced pilots can rapidly gain proficiency in basic eVTOL operations.</div></div>

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The advancement of technology on the modern commercial flight deck has allowed flight crew members to utilise multiple sources of information to maintain the safety of their flight. Having multiple sources of flight deck information, capable of displaying the same type of information, can lead to a situation in which a pilot encounters conflicting information. Understanding how a pilot makes a decision when faced with an information conflict on the flight deck is important to ensure appropriate design of flight-deck information systems and effective pilot training. This effort utilised data collected from 25 airline pilots who experienced information conflicts on a simulated B-737 flight deck, in conjunction with a theoretical review of how information conflicts impact decision making, to develop a theoretical model of pilot decision-making in the presence of an information conflict. This manuscript describes the model, along with the theory-driven and data-driven approaches utilised to develop the model.

The prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is increasing in both volume and variety (Fagan, Megas, Scarfone, & Smith, 2019). Therefore, ensuring users take appropriate measures to protect their privacy is important to guarantee their safety expectations are met. Unfortunately, device users are generally unaware of how devices work and therefore how to properly set up their device’s privacy features (Olmstead & Smith, 2017). The present study evaluated two interventions designed to address these needs. First, in an attempt to increase access and understanding of the terms and conditions by users, a Terms and Conditions Guru was designed that presented important information throughout the IoT device set up. Second, in an attempt to encourage users to adjust their settings in an appropriate manner, user settings profiles were created. This paper presents the methods, results, and recommendations for IoT interface design.