Human Control Performance and Tolerance Under Severe Complex Wave Form Vibration, with a Preliminary Historical Review of Flight Simulation

What can we do, preparing for these pioneers, to insure that these expected vibrations will not jeopardize their lives nor their missions? This paper will describe one approach, of attempting to simulate the expected and more than the expected complex wave form vibrations to determine tolerance and pilot control capabilities, to attempt to find solutions in simulation before the first flights in reality. The experimental work to be described was done in November, 1959, and June, 1960, on the Johnsville Navy human centrifuge, at the Aviation Medical Acceleration Laboratory, U.S. Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania, and in June, 1960, on the North American "G-seat", the vertical accelerator of the North American Aviation Co., Inc., Columbus, Ohio, while the author was Jostle Program Officer at the Aviation Medical Acceleration Laboratory. The experimental work was the subject of the confidential reports NADC-MA-L6005 and NADC-MA-6128, U.S. Naval Air Development Center, and NA60H-444, North American Aviation, Inc., Columbus. Unclassified aspects can now be reported.