Turbine Intro: Future visions

How far we’ve come. In the late 1980s VHF navigation got its first reckoning when the early loran units hit the market. This meant that direct-to navigation became commonplace. Sure, you could program some VHF units of the day to make direct legs by creating waypoints based on radials and distances from VORs, but with the new loran, it was just a matter of plugging in an identifier and pressing Direct.

Then came the explosion of handheld GPS units. What began with tiny liquid crystal displays bearing alphanumeric info and crude graphics morphed into ever-larger screens and more functionality. With Garmin’s G1000 and other panel-mounted displays, the transformation kicked into high gear.

Now comes touch-screen technology. And what next? Honeywell’s research gives us a hint. That company has been working on a primary flight display that combines infrared imagery with synthetic vision. With this combined vision system (CVS), you’d see the terrain surrounding a runway or airport as a background view. Embedded within the synthetic view is a central visual field showing a detailed rendition of the infrared-enhanced scene immediately ahead. This has the benefit of showing runway hazards—even when on approach in low visibilities. It would be the equivalent of a visual approach, Honeywell says.

Honeywell is seeking certification credit for lowered minimums using its CVS. Instead of using CAT I minimums of 200 feet and one-half-mile visibility, Honeywell wants us to be able to fly to lower, CAT II minimums with CVS. Is this a viable approach? Critics say that head-up displays (HUDs) are the gold standard, but in two-pilot operations, there seems to be little disadvantage in having one “flying” the CVS while the other looks outside and otherwise monitors the approach.

With any luck, we’ll be hearing more about combined vision in the near future. Until then, touchscreens will be getting all the press.

—Thomas A. Horne, Turbine Pilot Editor