Getting the Picture in Fighter Cockpits

Abstract

This narrated, color, 16 1/2 minute film describes the type of experiments being performed in the Air Force's Flight Dynamics Laboratory's Digital Synthesis Simulator. The purpose of these experiments is to develop new controls/displays concepts for the next generation fighter aircraft. The simulator is fixed-base and its cockpit is the size of an A-7. The cockpit's electro-mechanical instruments have been replaced with six cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Two of the CRTs are color and four are black-and-white. Through software programming, new display and control concepts are implemented on the display surfaces.

Past work discussed in the film includes: development of multifunction control logic, design of integrated monochrome display formats, and development of color-coded formats. On-going projects discussed in the film include: designing pictorial formats to replace current alphanumeric formats; designing computer-generated synthetic terrain displays to replace current radar displays; and designing algorithms which enable the cockpit computer to identify emergency conditions and perform the necessary emergency procedures for the pilot.

The film emphasizes the necessity of a research team composed of members with different areas of expertise. For example, the Digital Synthesis Simulation team is composed of human factors psychologists, pilots, engineers, and software and hardware experts. It also emphasizes the necessity to examine the human factors design of equipment in as near an operational setting as possible before production is pursued.