The Problem with Pilots: How Physicians, Engineers, and Airpower Enthusiasts Redefined Flight

277 Pages·2018·17.883 MB·English

by  Timothy P. Schultz

The Prob lem with Pi lots
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The Probl em with Pi lots
How Physicians, Engineers,
and Airpower Enthusiasts Redefined Flight
Timothy P. Schultz
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS BALTIMORE
© 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free paper
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Johns Hopkins University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Schultz, Timothy Paul, 1966– , author.
Title: The prob lem with pi lots : how physicians, engineers, and
airpower enthusiasts redefined flight / Timothy P. Schultz.
Description: Baltimore, Mary land : Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017026551 | ISBN 9781421424798 (hardcover :
alk. paper) | ISBN 1421424797 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781421424804 (electronic) | ISBN 1421424800 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Fighter pilots— Effect of technological
innovations on— United States. | Aviation medicine— United
States. | Aeronautics, Military— Technological innovations—
United States— History—20th c entury. | Aeronautics, Military—
United States— History—20th c entury. | Airplanes, Military—
Technological innovations.
Classification: LCC UG625 .S35 2018 | DDC 616.9/80213— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2017026551
A cata log rec ord for this book is available from the British Library.
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Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowl edgments ix
Timeline of Landmark Developments xi
List of Abbreviations x vii
INTRODUCTION: Pi lot Prob lems and Machine Promises 1
CHAPTER ONE: The Pathology of Flight 12
CHAPTER TWO: Engineering the H uman Machine 23
CHAPTER THREE: Flying Blind 44
CHAPTER FOUR: The Changing Role of the H uman Component 71
CHAPTER FIVE: Flight without Flyers 101
CHAPTER SIX: The Modern Pi lot, Redefined 1 22
CHAPTER SEVEN: New Horizons of Flight 1 46
CONCLUSION: The Past and F uture of Pi lots 166
Coda 182
Notes 185
Index 235
Illustrations appear following page 92.
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Preface
But the fact is the same, that by reason of feebleness and sluggishness, we are
unable to attain to the upper surface of the air; for if anyone should come to the
top of the air or should get wings and fly up, he could lift his head above it and
see, as fishes lift their heads out of the water and see the things in our world, so
he would see things in that upper world; and, if his nature were strong enough
to bear the sight, he would recognize that that is the real heaven and the real
light and the real earth.— Socrates, in Plato’s Phaedo
In traditional portrayals of combat aviation, the pi lot reigned supreme. He
emerged from the First World War as the icon of flight, confident master of
throttle, stick, and rudder— a heroic figure in a leather jacket and white scarf.
Yet this image became a mirage. Dramatic improvements in aircraft per for-
mance exposed the h uman operator as feeble and unreliable. Pi lots w ere unable
to function effectively at high altitudes, against excessive G- forces, or in clouds
or darkness. They w ere an engine of fatal errors. The prob lem with pi lots was
that they became the weakest link in manned flight.
In the three de cades a fter the G reat War, vari ous experts swarmed around
the airman– aircraft complex and developed elaborate means to overcome
human physiological and cognitive limitations. Among these experts were
flight surgeons who specialized in the maladies that piled up as aircraft flew
higher, faster, and farther. In collaboration with engineers, these surgeons
produced life- support technologies that enabled the human machine to func-
tion in environmental extremes. They also discovered that all pi lots lacked the
ability to remain spatially oriented in inclement weather, and a new paradigm
of flight emerged where special instruments replaced the pi lot’s dangerously
inaccurate seat- of- the- pants instincts. T hese efforts connected the technological,
the medical, and the human ele ment and helped transform the airman– aircraft
relationship.
Along with physicians, aeronautical engineers gained greater status in mili-
tary aviation as they developed new means to relegate vari ous pi lot functions
viii Preface
to superior forms of machine control. The gyro- stabilized autopi lot, for ex-
ample, usurped some of the pi lot’s traditional duties, and the air force altered
the pi lot’s role as it sought to integrate h uman and machine components for
optimal system per for mance. Pi lots became a biomechanical component in a
complex cybernetic system that placed increased reliance on automation. The
development of unmanned military aircraft between 1918 and 1945 further
challenged the notion of pi lot supremacy and relevance, a phenomenon at
full throttle today. Such innovations eroded the pi lot’s position as the central,
most essential control ele ment and elevated the role of physicians and
engineers.
The fundamental changes in the airman– aircraft relationship instituted
before the end of World War Two w ere spurred by airpower enthusiasts who
sought to advance the institutional credibility and power of the air force. In
order to mitigate the prob lem of human limits, they fostered new innovations
in life- support equipment, instrument- based flight, automatic control systems,
and unmanned aircraft. T hese innovations emerged from a complex interplay
between biology, technology, scientific research, and military necessity that
redefined flight by transforming the airman– aircraft relationship. This redefi-
nition is evident in modern airliners and jet fighters, where pi lots strug gle
to keep pace with advances in automatic control and machine intelligence.
These advances, particularly in autonomous capabilities, pose new prob lems
for pi lots and illuminate a leading edge of our changing relationship with
technology.
Acknowl edgments
Pi lots can’t fly without a lot of help from o thers. And so it is with this book.
It owes its existence to the work of many devoted professionals who pointed
the way forward and upward. Alex Roland deserves special mention as mentor
and role model, and Richard Kohn, Seymour Mauskopf, and Margaret Hum-
phreys also showed me the world through dif fer ent lenses. I am particularly
indebted to Steve Chiabotti for creating the conditions where I could meet
such people and think new thoughts. He is joined by the faculty of the School
of Advanced Air and Space Studies, a concert of professors and friends who
taught me much. In addition to the consummate professionals inhabiting the
many archives, museums, and agencies crucial to this research, I also thank
my colleagues Tom Hughes, Rich Muller, Mel Deaile, J. P. Clark, Mike Weaver,
Mike Pavković, John Maurer, Tim Hoyt, Michael Dennis, Mike Sherlock, John
Walrond, Robert Noyd, Jim Durando, John Garofano, Dave Brown, John Jackson,
I. B. Holley, and many other faculty members of Duke University, the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the US Air Force’s Air University, and the US
Naval War College for fueling p eople like me freely with their wisdom. This
diverse cast of scholars and educators is joined especially by Phil Haun, who
provided the encouragement and runway for this proj ect to achieve takeoff speed.
This book also exists because of the skill and grit of aviators who push to
the extremes. Enabled by innovative engineers and physicians, their efforts
reveal much about the past and future of our relationship with technology.
I am personally grateful to the men and women of the high- altitude recon-
naissance community, including pi lots such as Al Marshall, Jeff Klosky, and—
crucial to the story here— Kevin Henry and Dave Russell. These aviators who
dance with the U-2 Dragon Lady at the top of the atmosphere represent the
ne plus ultra of manned flight, explorers of h uman limits who marvel at what
few others see.
My earlier career as an aviator affirmed that no pi lot flies a perfect sortie,
and any failings in this book exist solely due to its all- too- human author. This