Aircraft conspicuity and flight attitude information provided by exterior paint patterns

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to determine the relative conspicuity of aircraft exterior paint patterns, and to investigate whether such paint patterns aided pilots in determining the attitude of the aircraft. The conspicuity studies, using paired comparisons of model airplanes, gave evidence that: (a) amount of red-orange fluorescent paint coverage is positively correlated with conspicuity; (b) high brightness paints should be placed on the upper surfaces of the aircraft and low brightness paints on the lower portions; (c) maximizing brightness contrasts between different parts of the aircraft surfaces does not enhance conspicuity; (d) flight attitudes, backgrounds, lighting conditions, and differences in Ss did not affect conspicuity significantly. The attitude studies in which pilots matched the model airplanes in some 1 of 15 attitudes, with 1 of 15 models mounted on a small display, indicated that the paint patterns used did not aid the pilots in making judgments of aircraft attitude. Differences in backgrounds and lighting conditions did not greatly affect Ss' ability to determine attitude. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)