United States Department of Transportation
i
Conspicuity assessment of selected propeller and tail rotor paint schemes.
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1978-08-01
[PDF-1.59 MB]
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Abstract:An investigation was conducted to rank the conspicuity of three paint schemes for airplane propellers and two schemes tail rotor blades previously recommended by the U.S. military and British Civil Aviation Authority. Thirty volunteer subjects with normal vision viewed rotating propellers at 6.1 m (20 ft) and tail rotor blades at 9.1 m (30 ft) under bright sunlight conditions.
Observations of the grouped airplanes and helicopters were made from three angles that included (i) viewing upward from a crouched position, (ii) at eye level while standing, and (iii) downward from an elevated platform. At all viewing angles, the propeller design consisting of black and white stripes asymmetrically placed on opposing blades was judged 'most conspicuous' by a wide margin. The red and white stripe design (Symmetrically placed) was considered slightly more effective than the yellow tip design. Of two designs for tail rotors, the balck and white asymmetrical stripe scheme was chosen 'more conspicuous' (9 to 1 ratio) than a red, white, and black stripe design.
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