Flight Tests of a 3-D Perspective-View Glass-Cockpit
Display for General Aviation Using GPS

Andrew K. Barrows, Per Enge, Bradford W. Parkinson,
and J. David Powell

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Stanford University

ABSTRACT

A display that takes advantage of the three-dimensional positioning data available from differential GPS has been flight tested on a general aviation aircraft. This glass-cockpit instrument provides a natural, out the window view of the world, making the horizon, runway, and desired flight path visible to the pilot in instrument flight conditions. The flight path is depicted as a series of symbols through which the pilot flies the airplane. Altitude, heading, and airspeed are presented along with lateral and vertical glidepath deviations. Particular attention was given to demonstrating a system satisfying the budget, power, and form-factor constraints of light aircraft.

Simulator tests and flight trials on a Piper Dakota aircraft showed that the tunnel display allows the pilot to hand fly straight-in approaches with equivalent or better flight technical error than with a typical Instrument Landing System (ILS) needle display. Additionally, the tunnel display provides lateral and vertical guidance on curving missed approach procedures, for which ILS cannot provide positive course guidance. The results demonstrate that GPS-based displays can improve navigation along straight and curving flight paths in light aircraft by enhancing pilot situational awareness. Better path-following accuracy will benefit future Air Traffic Control schemes and a variety of specialized applications.

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