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In the past, commercial airplane manufacturers have used analytical techniques and nonstructured pilot opinion for workload assessment. Analytic techniques are of particular value to the aircraft manufacturer since they offer both the potential for identifying and correcting workload problems early in the design phase when the cost of change is relatively low and a tool that can provide data for certification. One disadvantage to the available analytic techniques is their lack of fidelity in assessing mental effort. With the current shift of flight deck design placing more mental demands on the flightcrew, workload assessment has taken on a new challenge. The addition of formalized subjective measures to traditional objective analyses can provide information that validates the analytic- and simulation-based estimates of physical workload and enhances estimates of mental workload.

The sleeve cold-working process for fastener holes is a process that uses a tapered mandrel in conjunction with a disposable, prelubricated split sleeve to compressively prestress a significant zone around a fastener hole. This compressive prestressing offsets the stress concentration of the hole itself to produce substantial improvements in structural fatigue performance of fastened joints. The sleeve method allows higher degrees of prestressing than are possible with other methods and does not require precision controls and skills germane to other fatigue-rated hole preparation/fastener systems.

The 757 and 767 airplanes provide maximum commonality in equipment, flight deck configuration and handling characteristics. Pilots with three-crew ratings will be qualified to fly either airplane with a three-crew requirement, and those with two-crew ratings will have the same flexibility. In addition to crew qualification, over 80% of the LRUs in the Flight Management System are interchangeable between similar crew configurations of the 757 and 767, i.e., they have the identical part number. Seventy-five percent of the LRUs are common to both the two-and three-crew configurations. Components that have engine-related software (the Thrust Management and Flight Management Computers) will be interchangeable between 757 and 767 aircraft powered by engines from the same manufacturer.