Tactical vs. Strategic Behavior: General Aviation Piloting in Convective Weather Scenarios

Kara A. Latorella, James P. Chamberlain
2002 Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting  
We commonly describe environments and behavioral responses to environmental conditions as "tactical" and "strategic." However theoretical research defining relevant environmental characteristics is rare, as are empirical investigations that would inform such theory. This paper discusses General Aviation (GA) pilots' descriptions of tactical/strategic conditions with respect to weather flying, and evaluates their ratings along a tactical/strategic scale in response to real convective weather
more » ... arios experienced during a flight experiment with different weather information cues. Perceived risk was significantly associated with ratings for all experimental conditions. In addition, environmental characteristics were found to be predictive of ratings for Traditional IMC (instrument meteorological conditions), i.e., aural weather information only, and Traditional VMC (visual meteorological conditions), i.e., aural information and an external view. The paper also presents subjects' comments regarding use of Graphical Weather Information Systems (GWISs) to support tactical and strategic weather flying decisions and concludes with implications for the design and use of GWISs.
doi:10.1177/154193120204600121 fatcat:ilo5mugoxngknnvqqjwlafni54