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Situational Awareness
Published in David G. Newman, Flying Fast Jets, 2014
The fast jet cockpit is still evolving, and greater use is being made of MFD technology. The LCD display screens are not only getting larger (usually 20 × 20 cm), but more capable, with better resolution and with larger colour palettes. More and more aircraft performance and tactical situation data is being presented on these displays. Latest-generation aircraft such as the F-22 and the Eurofighter Typhoon use MFD technology almost exclusively, giving a very uncluttered yet highly data-driven cockpit. Indeed, the F-22 has a total of six LCD panels with no analogue instruments at all. There are four standard MFDs and two smaller up-front panels either side of the Integrated Control Panel (ICP), which is the name given to the UFC in the F-22. The F-35 cockpit represents a significant departure from the standard configuration. It does not have a fixed HUD, and instead uses an advanced helmet-mounted display system and a ‘panoramic cockpit display’ consisting of a single large (50 × 20 cm) full panel width touch screen measuring 50 × 20 cm.
Aviation Displays
Published in Pamela S. Tsang, Michael A. Vidulich, Principles and Practice of Aviation Psychology, 2002
Multifunction Displays. Earlier we described the multifunction display (MFD) as a possible joint solution to the clutter problem caused by a single fixed display and to the scanning/resolution problem caused by multiple dedicated displays of a geographical area. In a broader (nongeographical) context, the multifunction display can serve as a host for vast quantities of information pertaining to such databases as emergency checklists, airport characteristics, or airplane system status. Rather than representing these on multiple pages of paper, in the multifunction display, only a single display viewport is employed, and this viewport can be used through some form of manual (or possibly vocal) interaction (Roske-Hofstrand & Paap, 1986; Seidler & Wickens, 1992) to call up the appropriate information “pages” at the right time. As we noted there, two costs were associated with this form of computer-based automation of information retrieval. First, if the databases themselves contain dynamic information, it is possible that important changes to a database could occur while it was hidden from view. This is the “out of sight out of mind” problem (Podczerwinski, Wickens, & Alexander 2001). For example, a weather database on an MFD could easily change in such a way as to increase the hazard during a time when it is out of view on an MFD page.
Introduction
Published in Mike Tooley, Aircraft Digital Electronic and Computer Systems, 2023
The multifunction display (MFD) takes the form of another multicolour CRT or active-matrix LCD display unit. The display is normally mounted on the instrument panel in the space provided for the weather radar (WXR) indicator. Standard functions displayed by the unit include weather radar, pictorial navigation map and, in some systems, checklist and other operating data. Additionally, the MFD can display flight data or navigation data in case of a PFD or ND failure.
Mastering Automation: New Airline Pilots’ Perspective
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2021
Kassandra Kim Yoke Soo, Timothy J. Mavin, Yoriko Kikkawa
A more recent report by the Flight Deck Automation Working Group (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013) stated that there have been significant changes to the use of aircraft automation since its last review in the late 1990s. These changes include increased aircraft onboard capabilities for flight path management using (a) more capable flight management computer (FMC; sometimes referred to as flight management system (FMS); (b) more advanced navigation systems such as area navigation (RNAV), required navigation performance (RNP), and global positioning system (GPS); and (c) more advanced digital data presentation contained within the primary flight display (PFD), navigation display (ND), mode control panel (MCP), multi-function display (MFD), and control display unit (CDU) (see Figure 1). Pilots were required to adapt to such changes; however, this report highlighted that “current training methods, training devices, the time allotted for training, and content may not provide the flight crews with the knowledge, skills, and judgment to successfully manage flight path management systems” (Federal Aviation Administration, 2013, p. 4).