BAE Systems has launched a new head-up display system which is small and light enough to fit into the cockpit of most if not every business jet.
The Q-HUD, which is being demonstrated for the first time at NBAA, represents BAE System's return to the increasingly competitive civilian HUD market.
BAE has taken a breather since the mid-1990s, when predecessor company Marconi Avionics developed the HUD 2020 for the Gulfstream IV, and is eager to regain market share in the sector by introducing a new lighter and less expensive system.
"Some competitors have leapfrogged the 2020. Now we're ready to leapfrog our competitors," says BAE Systems director of commercial avionics business development Ric Morrow.
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Specifically, Morrow says the Q-HUD introduces new patented technology that can generate images without the heavy and expensive projection systems that are typically placed above the pilot's head.
Instead images are essentially generated within the glass of the HUD using holographic waveguides, eliminating the need for the overhead box. "What the pilot sees is essentially the same thing, but it's a totally different way of getting it there," Morrow says.
In large business jets, most of which now come equipped with HUDs as standard equipment, the introduction of the Q-HUD results in more headroom for pilots and more comfort in the cockpit because the unit is 50% lighter than existing products, requires less power and emits less heat.
But more significantly the Q-HUD opens up for the first time a potential HUD application for medium-size business jets, which in most cases are simply too small to fit in a conventional HUD.
Morrow says the new Q-HUD, which is scheduled to enter service in mid-2010, can even potentially be adapted for very light jets.
But while BAE plans to study the VLJ market, Morrow says it will focus initially on aircraft ranging from medium-size business jets to jumbo passenger aircraft, acknowledging that for VLJs the Q-HUD is "both a price point and technology push".
The technology lead for BAE's Q-HUD project, Paul Childs, expects the Q-HUD to be a viable option for business jets priced at $5 million or above.
"Mid-size is definitely a target for us," Childs says, adding that manufacturers including Bombardier, Dassault Falcon and Embraer would "love to get HUDs on their smaller aircraft".
Source: Flight International
