Avionics News April 2018 - 19
W
hile visiting a small general aviation airport
recently, a fellow pilot excitedly showed me
around his new set of wheels, a snazzy little
sports car with a driver's seat seemingly molded into what
arguably amounts to a cockpit - in a car. Controls flowed from
the driver's door armrest, sweeping up from the right across
the main dashboard instruments before descending down the
left side where it flows through more indicators and controls
in the center console.
Oriented to help drivers keep
their focus on the world outside the
driver's cockpit, one could no more
completely avoid some diversions
from looking outside than they could
prevent drivers from occasionally
deviating from the standard 10-and-2
handholds on the steering wheel.
The savvy placement of the most
important instruments helped keep
head movement to a minimum when
scanning between dash and outside.
"But I almost never have to look
down at the dash," he explained. He
started the engine, pointed toward
the lower quarter of the windshield
and said: "Everything I need is on
the HUD."
HUDs - or heads-up displays -
long ago spread beyond aviation.
HUDs obviously aren't just for
flying anymore.
General aviation started getting
aviation HUDs years ago. But the size of the HUD components
precluded their use in cockpits smaller than a medium jet.
Numerous systems from multiple avionics makers exist for
HUDs in medium- and large-cabin business jets. And civilian
systems, in general, weigh less and need less space than HUD
systems originally developed for military use.
It's only been in the past decade that components and
technology advances gave us HUD components small
enough and capable enough to bring their benefits to the
confines of automobile and truck "cockpits." As the evolution
of HUD components opened the automobile market, the
higher demand spurred further development, continued
miniaturization and decreasing costs - all contributors to a
new generation of HUD systems, at least one suitable for even
small experimental aircraft.
Heads-up display technology is one which, once sampled,
makes converts of the most-ardent skeptics.
"If car companies have technology that lets them put a
HUD in a car, why don't we have them in GA airplanes,"
the proud pilot asked as we cruised in his HUD-equipped
sports coupe.
Truth is, cars increasingly employ HUD systems, with
large luxury models getting them years ago. Today, they're
even more widespread.
Autos from Cadillac sedans to
Mini Cooper coupes accommodate
HUD systems these days.
Fortunately for the automotive
community, their new HUDS are,
well, simpler for cars. They don't
need sensors to display roll, pitch,
yaw, altitude or vertical speed.
Surface vehicles with HUDs
remain planted firmly on the ground.
The attraction of, desire for,
light-aircraft HUDs remains largely
unfulfilled for the majority of the
general aviation fleet. That's starting
to change.
After years of effort, false starts
and failed attempts, HUDs are
finally arriving for use in general
aviation aircraft as small as singleseat experimental aircraft. Similar
to the automotive world, some of
these systems can be retrofitted into
existing aircraft - and are.
AFTER YEARS OF
EFFORT, FALSE
STARTS AND
FAILED ATTEMPTS,
HUDS ARE FINALLY
ARRIVING FOR USE
IN GENERAL
AVIATION AIRCRAFT
AS SMALL AS
SINGLE-SEAT
EXPERIMENTAL
AIRCRAFT.
Heads up, heads down: What's the big deal?
For flight crew members, few moments exist in which
competing needs don't vie for their attention. Modern
aircraft have a lot of data points to monitor.
Flight crews, whether one or two people, must monitor
the many indicators, instruments and gauges populating
the instrument panel. They monitor powerplant health,
navigation data - course, heading, airspeed, route progress -
and flight attitude, all the while tracking the status of various
systems such as pressurization.
For most crew in most aircraft, monitoring all the
available information is a heads-down activity - heads
Continued on following page
avionics news
*
april
2018
19
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2018
No label
Avionics News April 2018 - Intro
Avionics News April 2018 - Cover1
Avionics News April 2018 - Cover2
Avionics News April 2018 - No label
Avionics News April 2018 - 2
Avionics News April 2018 - 3
Avionics News April 2018 - 4
Avionics News April 2018 - 5
Avionics News April 2018 - 6
Avionics News April 2018 - 7
Avionics News April 2018 - 8
Avionics News April 2018 - 9
Avionics News April 2018 - 10
Avionics News April 2018 - 11
Avionics News April 2018 - 12
Avionics News April 2018 - 13
Avionics News April 2018 - 14
Avionics News April 2018 - 15
Avionics News April 2018 - 16
Avionics News April 2018 - 17
Avionics News April 2018 - 18
Avionics News April 2018 - 19
Avionics News April 2018 - 20
Avionics News April 2018 - 21
Avionics News April 2018 - 22
Avionics News April 2018 - 23
Avionics News April 2018 - 24
Avionics News April 2018 - 25
Avionics News April 2018 - 26
Avionics News April 2018 - 27
Avionics News April 2018 - 28
Avionics News April 2018 - 29
Avionics News April 2018 - 30
Avionics News April 2018 - 31
Avionics News April 2018 - 32
Avionics News April 2018 - 33
Avionics News April 2018 - 34
Avionics News April 2018 - 35
Avionics News April 2018 - 36
Avionics News April 2018 - 37
Avionics News April 2018 - 38
Avionics News April 2018 - 39
Avionics News April 2018 - 40
Avionics News April 2018 - 41
Avionics News April 2018 - 42
Avionics News April 2018 - 43
Avionics News April 2018 - 44
Avionics News April 2018 - 45
Avionics News April 2018 - 46
Avionics News April 2018 - 47
Avionics News April 2018 - 48
Avionics News April 2018 - 49
Avionics News April 2018 - 50
Avionics News April 2018 - 51
Avionics News April 2018 - 52
Avionics News April 2018 - 53
Avionics News April 2018 - 54
Avionics News April 2018 - 55
Avionics News April 2018 - 56
Avionics News April 2018 - 57
Avionics News April 2018 - 58
Avionics News April 2018 - 59
Avionics News April 2018 - 60
Avionics News April 2018 - 61
Avionics News April 2018 - 62
Avionics News April 2018 - 63
Avionics News April 2018 - 64
Avionics News April 2018 - 65
Avionics News April 2018 - 66
Avionics News April 2018 - 67
Avionics News April 2018 - 68
Avionics News April 2018 - 69
Avionics News April 2018 - 70
Avionics News April 2018 - 71
Avionics News April 2018 - 72
Avionics News April 2018 - Cover3
Avionics News April 2018 - Cover4
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