O voo à vela como ferramenta no desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas

Abstract

In search of optimizing pilots' responses to challenging situations and enhancing their capabilities, cognitive skills stand out as trainable factors for improved performance in cockpit management. Attention, situational awareness, and decision-making are key competencies honed during flight training. In glider flying, these skills are continuously maintained, requiring rapid and precise responses from the pilot to remain airborne and adapt to environmental conditions. Gliders, lacking an engine, rely on upward thermal currents and refined techniques for aircraft handling. Hence, the aim of this research is to assimilate and apply the studied cognitive skills specifically to glider pilot operation. An exploratory methodology, basic in nature, with a qualitative approach, utilizing bibliographic and documentary research, was employed. It was evident that glider pilots, due to limited time in flight, handle takeoff, maneuvering, and flight with significant mental workload, necessitating heightened situational awareness to judge speed, distance, and altitude in relation to their target. Skills in locating thermal currents and executing a safe landing approach without engine propulsion are crucial, given the limited reach of gliders to the landing strip. Therefore, attention in this process is crucial as it filters relevant information for glide ratio assessment and wind conditions. Consequently, the ability to sustain focus on a fixed point for extended periods, maintain higher vestibular balance during body and aircraft rotations, and uphold visual stability while experiencing maneuvers in turns are highlighted as outcomes.