Head-Up Displays: Designing the Way Ahead

This is a thorough description of this increasingly important technology, starting from the development of head-up displays (HUDs), particularly specifications and standards and operational problems associated with HUD use. HUD involvement in spatial disorientation and its use in recognizing and recovering from unusual attitudes is discussed. The book summarizes the design criteria including hardware, software, interface and display criteria. It goes on to outline flight tasks to be used for evaluating HUDs and discusses the impact of HUDs on flight training. Recent work indicates that a HUD may allow a significant reduction in the time required to train a pilot on a particular aircraft, even considering non-HUD-related tasks. The author concludes with a review of unresolved HUD issues and recommendations for further research and provides an impressive bibliography, glossary and index. Within the military aviation sector the book will be of use to industry, research agencies, test pilot schools and air force training establishments. In the civil area regulatory authorities, airlines and industry will also have an increasing interest.

Contents: Introduction; Historical review; A review of HUD technology; Symbology lessons learned; Primary flight reference criteria; Equipment considerations; Display criteria; Recommended standard symbology; HUD evaluations; HUD training; Conclusion; Glossary; Appendix - HUD Symbologies; Bibliography; Index.

Dr Richard L Newman Is Associate Professor, Safety Science, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona, USA. Previously he was with NASA Langley Research Centre and Crew Systems, USA. He is a consulting engineer and test pilot with over 20 years’ experience in the development, flight testing and certification of aircraft systems. His current interests include the evaluation of head-up displays for use as primary flight displays, head-up display training, and pilot monitoring of digital systems. Dr Newman’s recent projects have included development of a primary flight display HUD for the C-130J, certification of a head-up display for a corporate airplane, flight test management of a HUD-equipped research airplane, and currently the development of helmet-mounted display symbology concepts with NASA-Ames Research Center.