Thales Avionics will deliver its first digital head-up display (D-HUD) to Airbus in September, and installation on the first aircraft -an A340 - will start in December.
The system will be offered as a standard option on all Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft - including the A380 - with the A340 the first to be certificated, set for next year.
Thales was selected by Airbus over rival Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics last year. According to the French avionics company, certification on the A320 family should follow no later than three to four months after the A340, with the A380 another three to four months later. Several A380 customers, including Emirates and FedEx Express, have indicated they may opt for the D-HUD.
Thales expects its D-HUD to enter service on an Airbus in late 2006 at the earliest, but the company has not specified a customer.
From the first quarter of 2005, the mechanical and electrical provisions needed to install the D-HUD will be built into some production aircraft by Airbus to ensure customers can upgrade later. Customers will be able to choose to provide both pilots with a HUD.
Thales Avionics senior flight operations advisor Capt Reda Benlekehal says the HUD will provide operational benefits: "On a runway equipped with a localiser, the HUD's guidance will display centreline deviation during the take-off roll, like a para-visual indicator. This will enable take-off [runway visual range] minima to be reduced from 110m [360ft] to 75m."
He adds that during the landing roll, deceleration can be improved as the HUD displays braking force, which "will help pilots, for example, needing to comply with land and hold short requirements".
The D-HUD provides information using a digital liquid-crystal display (LCD) that is fed data by an optical fibre. Previous HUDs have an analogue cathode ray tube (CRT) display.
The LCD HUD will have a resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 pixels, which Thales says is better than CRT displays. Using an LCD means that it can use 50% less power than the traditional CRT unit, says Thales.
ROB COPPINGER / PARIS
Source: Flight International
