Military/avionics: Design decisions for a head-up display: This F-14 fighter optics retrofit case history is a prime example of analyzing and selecting design options

Abstract

In modern high-speed aircraft it is vital that primary flight control information be clearly and unobstrusively presented to the pilot. The head-up display (HUD) meets this requirement by providing relevant scales, alphanumerics, symbology, gunsight reticle, etc., superimposed on the pilot's forward field of view. With most HUD designs, the information is calligraphically presented on a high-brightness cathode-ray tube and projected through a collimating lens to a combiner (partially silvered glass) located between the pilot and the aircraft's windshield. Making the HUD concept an even more valuable aid for military aircraft pilots was the task of Grumman engineers retrofitting the US Navy's F-14 Fighter cockpit with an improved HUD design. In this discussion, the progress of the project is traced through difficult, often conflicting, engineering problems to its present form, which is-according to US Navy pilots-a substantial advance in the state of the art.