Objective Flight Evaluation of Visual Cue for DVE Helicopter Operation

A comparative evaluation method for enhanced- or synthetic-visual cues for helicopter operation under Degraded Visual Environment was invented. The flight task in the method is as simple as to track a winding road, that is located in a flat area. A series of flight test was conducted to evaluate a variety of sensors such as Image Intensifier, Long-wave Infra-Red Sensor and Synthetic Terrain, under moonless night condition. The results show good correlation with comments from the pilots.