Civil Use of Night Vision Devices - Evaluation Pilot's Guide, Part 1

This document was developed to aid in the evaluation of the use of night vision goggles (NVG's) by civil helicopter pilots. This report was used to prepare pilots to participate in the flight test program. The principal task was to determine if there are any unresolved safety issues that would preclude pilot use of NVG's during helicopter operations under Federal Aviation Regulations Parts 91 or 135. Certainly NVG's can enable a pilot to 'see better' at night and to accomplish certain flight objectives. However, the question is, is safety degraded during any phase of the flight operation if pilots use these devices. Even if the use of NVG's dramatically improves operational effectiveness, current safety margins must be maintained or improved during all phases of flight. This report is one of three documents that were developed for evaluating the use of night vision goggles (NVG's) by EMS helicopter pilots. The other two reports are (1) FAA/RD-94/18, Civil Use of Night Vision Devices Evaluation Pilot's Guide, Part I (2) FAA/RD-94/20, Assessment of Night Vision Goggle Workload - Flight Test Engineer's Guide.