HUMAN-CENTRED DEVELOPMENT
OF A HELICOPTER VOICE MARSHALLING SIMULATOR
Robert J. Stone and Sam McDonagh
VP Defence Limited and SARTU, RAF Valley
Sale, Cheshire, UK and Anglesey, North Wales, UK
ABSTRACT
Within the Royal Air Force, helicopter voice-marshalling (VM) aircrew play a vital role in search and rescue
missions and in the delivery of military and survival resources to remote areas, often confined by natural features
such as forests and mountains. Located in the rear cabin of the RAF’s Griffin (Bell 412) helicopters, harnessed VM
aircrew monitor the external environment through the open cabin door and verbally relay important flight commands
to the pilot in order to guarantee an accurate and safe approach of the aircraft to a landing site or target object.
Following a development period lasting only 6 months, the RAF has taken delivery of a VR VM simulator designed
to foster improved fidelity ground training techniques and to minimise costly “remedial” ground/air training. This
paper presents the findings of the initial human factors and training needs analyses, conducted with the support of
RAF subject matter experts during ground exercises and flight trials. These were conducted to define primary VM
task components, helicopter features demanding physical and graphical reproduction in the final simulator and the
specification of the sources of visual cues utilised during reconnaissance and final approach (land and sea
operations). The single PC-based, semi-immersive (head-mounted display) VR simulator and trainer interface is
described, as is the development of the virtual environment run-time system, components of which (the dynamic
seascape and environmental modules) were based in part on software modules extracted from a recent close-range
weapons simulator developed for the Royal Navy. Early results focusing on the first courses to benefit from the new
the simulator are also presented.
AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Professor Robert J. Stone BSc (Hons), MSc, C.Psychol, AFBPsS, MErgS, Eur.Erg, FIoN, FVRS. Bob S to n e is
S cien tif ic D irector of V P D ef en ce Lim ited . He g r ad uated f ro m U niver sity Co lleg e Lon d on in 1 97 9 w ith a BSc in
P sy ch olo gy , and in 1 98 1 w ith an MS c in Er go n om ics ( Hu man F actor s) , and cu rr en tly h old s th e p os ition o f V is iting
P ro fess o r of VR w ith in th e Facu lty o f Med icine at Man ch ester Un iv er s ity and the Scho o l of Co mp uting w ith in th e
U nivers ity o f P ly mo u th , h is h om e tow n . In 1 99 6, he b ecame an A cadem ician o f th e Rus s ian In ter natio nal H ig her
Edu catio n Academy o f S ciences ( Mos co w ). Bo b u nd ertak es research in to th e h um an facto rs asp ects o f VR, w ith
r eg ular co ntr ib utio n s to pr ojects in th e field s o f defen se, s ur gery , cultur al h eritag e, eng ineer ing and health an d s af ety .
H is r ecent w o rk h as co ncentrated o n train in g analys es an d VR co nten t d ef inition fo r the Roy al Nav y an d A ir F o rce
( clos e- r an ge naval w eapo n s, s ub m ar in e train ing , the n ew NA TO Su bm ar ine Rescue S y stem an d helicop ter v oice
m ar sh allin g) an d on er go n om ic/task an alys es fo r the auto mo tiv e in du s tr y, ear/no s e/th r oat su r gery an d en d os co p ic
r ob ots. Bob is o ne of Eu ro pe’s lo ng est-s tan ding pion eer s in th e field o f V R, h aving in 1 98 7 b eco me o ne of th e firs t
Eur op ean s to ex perience the N AS A A mes VIEW VR S ys tem . His wo r k in telero b otics , VR an d hu m an f actor s h as
r eceived a v ariety o f aw ard s an d h e is regu lar ly in vited to k ey no te at m ajo r in ter natio nal events .
Flight Lieutenant Sam McDomagh. Flt Lt Sam McDonagh joined the RAF in November, 1978 as an RAF
Regiment Gunner. In 1980 he underwent Aircrew/Air Loadmaster training and, on award of his brevet, he was
posted to No. 30 Squadron, operating on the C130 Hercules. During this time he was involved in the Falklands
conflict of 1982 and in the introduction of the C130 tanker aircraft. In 1985 Sam converted to Search and Rescue
helicopters and served with No. 22 Squadron, RAF Aldergrove. In 1992 he was selected for instructional duties and
started a 4-year tour at the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU) at RAF Valley. During this time he attained
an A2 CFS category and amassed some 400 instructional flying hours. Following this tour Sam converted to Sea
King and served on B Flight, Wattisham, C Flight, RAF Valley and No. 78 Squadron in the Falklands. He was
commissioned in 1999 and returned to SARTU as the Flight Commander, Rearcrew. Sam has served on a wide
range of aircraft types and in many varied roles, including time spent at the USCG school, assisting with the
introduction of direct deployment techniques and other rescue procedures. His total flying hours stand at 7500.
