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as well as a fully functioning non- motion Cessna Citation Mustang simulator, Dr. Burian’s team thinks they have some answers. The process of accumulating the data began in early February of this year with 14 pilots selected for the study.And I was the first guinea pig!My involvement began with an e-mail asking if I would be interested in participating in the study and included an extensive questionnaire about my flying experience. Only Mustang-qualified pilots were included since the simulator was an exact replica of the airplane including synthetic vision and very lifelike visuals. The objective was to place me in the most familiar cockpit environment so that my actual actions and reactions would most closely replicate real-world situations. Part of the extensive preplanning paperwork enabled technicians to set up the simulator and Garmin G1000 features exactly as my personal airplane was configured.Day of ReckoningI arrived in Oklahoma City in my Mustang on a cold February afternoon before my simulator ride. Dr. Burian provided a pre- brief and we filled out the necessary paperwork to allow me to receive some reimbursement for my trip costs. She told me to get plenty of sleep.The next morning at 6 a.m., I was whisked away to a most impressive complex, the FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) headquarters. After clearing significant security, I was full of questions. How much of my blood would they take? What if I failed the test? Would “big brother” be watching? Dr. Burian and her team eased my fears and reassured me that I could keep all my blood. “We really don’t know what we will find,” she said. “This study has never been done with light jet pilots before.”The one-of-a-kind Mustang simulator was unique in thatemitter would be projected on the object I was looking at. I couldn’t see the light but the researchers could and they recorded it in detail. I felt like a Cyborg in a science fiction movie. It was all I could do not to ask for popcorn.Behind the simulator were a bank of monitors and five or more researchers recording everything I said and everywhere I looked. I even had a recently retired FAA controller on hand to issue clearances to me during the flight.As I realized how many people were watching my every move, I began to wonder when the “fun part” of this experiment would begin. Then, Dr. Burian pointed out the big red knob in the simulator’s cockpit. She said it was a way they could ask me to provide instant stress feedback during the flights. When the flashing light came on, I was to input a stress level from one to five (five being the highest stress) and then continue with the flying chores. I asked her if I could press “five” before I could even get the seat belt attached!We began with a couple of takeoffs and landings to sample the visual presentation. Then a short hop from Clinton, Okla., to KOKC to get used to the simulator. I thought to myself, “This is really easy.” Dr. Burian smiled and said, “Just two more flights and we will be finished.” Two more? I think she knew something I didn’t.She led me to a small room and gave me a thick briefing book for the next flight from Teterboro to Martin State, Md. It included a comprehensive weather briefing, satellite photos, PIREPS, METARS, NOTAMS, winds, forecasts for multiple airports along the route, reason for the flight, weight and balance info, all navigation charts.Inside the Citation Mustang simulator multiple cameras were aligned to map the cornea of the pilot’s eyes. Each time he looked anywhere in the cockpit, an infrared emitter would be projected on the object he was looking at.Behind the simulator were a bank of monitors and five or more researchers recording everything Miller said and everywhere he looked. A recently retired FAA controller issued clearances during the flight.it is a non-motion version of what you would experience at FlightSafety. More unusual however, were the bevy of cameras mounted inside and outside of the simulator. Technicians spent 15 minutes aligning each camera to map the cornea of my eyes so that every time I looked anywhere in the cockpit, an infrared26 • TWIN & TURBINEOCTOBER 2011