Editing Head-up display (section)

== History ==
[[File:Revi C12-A.jpg|thumb|right|Longitudinal cross-section of a basic ''reflector sight'' (1937 German Revi C12/A)]]
[[File:C-130J Co Pilot's Head-up display.jpg|thumb|right|Copilot's HUD of a [[C-130J]]]]

HUDs evolved from the [[reflector sight]], a pre-World War II [[parallax]]-free optical sight technology for [[military]] [[fighter aircraft]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESR4-pns2JMC&pg=PA189 |author=D. N. Jarrett |title=Cockpit engineering |page=189 |publisher=Ashgate Pub. |year=2005
|isbn=0-7546-1751-3 |access-date=2012-07-14}}</ref> The [[gyro gunsight]] added a [[reticle]] that moved based on the speed and turn rate to solve for the amount of [[Deflection (ballistics)|lead]] needed to hit a target while maneuvering.

During the early 1940s, the [[Telecommunications Research Establishment]] (TRE), in charge of UK [[radar]] development, found that [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[night fighter]] pilots were having a hard time reacting to the verbal instruction of the radar operator as they approached their targets. They experimented with the addition of a second radar display for the pilot, but found they had trouble looking up from the lit screen into the dark sky in order to find the target. In October 1942 they had successfully combined the image from the radar tube with a projection from their standard GGS Mk. II [[gyro gunsight]] on a flat area of the windscreen, and later in the gunsight itself.<ref>Ian White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SMMMAwAACAAJ "The History of Air Intercept Radar & the British Nightfigher"], Pen & Sword, 2007, p. 207</ref> A key upgrade was the move from the original [[AI Mk. IV radar]] to the microwave-frequency [[AI Mk. VIII radar]] found on the [[de Havilland Mosquito]] [[night fighter]]. This set produced an [[artificial horizon]] that further eased head-up flying.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In 1955 the [[US Navy]]'s Office of Naval Research and Development did some research with a mockup HUD concept unit along with a [[Side-stick|sidestick controller]] in an attempt to ease the pilot's burden flying modern jet aircraft and make the instrumentation less complicated during flight. While their research was never incorporated in any aircraft of that time, the crude HUD mockup they built had all the features of today's modern HUD units.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fNwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA101 "Windshield TV Screen To Aid Blind Flying."] ''Popular Mechanics'', March 1955, p. 101.</ref>

HUD technology was next advanced by the [[Royal Navy]] in the [[Blackburn Buccaneer|Buccaneer]], the prototype of which first flew on {{Nowrap|30 April}} 1958. The aircraft was designed to fly at very low altitudes at very high speeds and drop bombs in engagements lasting seconds. As such, there was no time for the pilot to look up from the instruments to a bombsight. This led to the concept of a "Strike Sight" that would combine altitude, airspeed and the gun/bombsight into a single gunsight-like display. There was fierce competition between supporters of the new HUD design and supporters of the old electro-mechanical gunsight, with the HUD being described as a radical, even foolhardy option.

The Air Arm branch of the [[UK Ministry of Defence]] sponsored the development of a Strike Sight. The [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] (RAE) designed the equipment and the earliest usage of the term "head-up-display" can be traced to this time.<ref>John Kim, [http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/books/1/ Rupture of the Virtual], Digital Commons Macalester College, 2016, p. 54</ref> Production units were built by [[Cintel|Rank Cintel]], and the system was first integrated in 1958. The Cintel HUD business was taken over by [[Elliott Brothers (computer company)|Elliott Flight Automation]] and the Buccaneer HUD was manufactured and further developed, continuing up to a Mark&nbsp;III version with a total of 375 systems made; it was given a 'fit and forget' title by the Royal Navy and it was still in service nearly 25 years later. [[BAE Systems]], as the successor to Elliotts via GEC-Marconi Avionics, thus has a claim to the world's first head-up display in operational service.<ref>Rochester Avionics Archives</ref> A similar version that replaced the bombing modes with missile-attack modes was part of the [[AIRPASS]] HUD fitted to the [[English Electric Lightning]] from 1959.

In the United Kingdom, it was soon noted that pilots flying with the new gunsights were becoming better at piloting their aircraft.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} At this point, the HUD expanded its purpose beyond weapon aiming to general piloting. In the 1960s, French test-pilot Gilbert Klopfstein created the first modern HUD and a standardized system of HUD symbols so that pilots would only have to learn one system and could more easily transition between aircraft. The modern HUD used in [[instrument flight rules]] approaches to landing was developed in 1975.<ref name=autogenerated1>Spitzer, Cary R., ed. "Digital Avionics Handbook". Head-Up Displays. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001</ref> Klopfstein pioneered HUD technology in military [[fighter jet]]s and [[helicopter]]s, aiming to centralize critical flight data within the pilot's field of vision. This approach sought to increase the pilot's scan efficiency and reduce "task saturation" and [[information overload]].

Use of HUDs then expanded beyond military aircraft. In the 1970s, the HUD was introduced to commercial aviation, and in 1988, the [[Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme]] became the first production car with a head-up display.

Until a few years ago, the Embraer 190, Saab 2000, Boeing 727, and [[Boeing 737]] [[Boeing 737 Classic|Classic]] (737-300/400/500) and [[Boeing 737 Next Generation|Next Generation]] aircraft (737-600/700/800/900 series) were the only commercial passenger aircraft available with HUDs. However, the technology is becoming more common with aircraft such as the [[Canadair RJ]], [[Airbus A318]] and several business jets featuring the displays. HUDs have become standard equipment on the [[Boeing&nbsp;787]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Norris, G.|author2=Thomas, G.|author3=Wagner, M.|author4=Forbes Smith, C.|name-list-style=amp|title=Boeing 787 Dreamliner—Flying Redefined|publisher=Aerospace Technical Publications International|date=2005|isbn=0-9752341-2-9}}</ref> Furthermore, the Airbus A320, A330, A340 and A380 families are currently undergoing the certification process for a HUD.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/07_12_03_a318_hud.html |title=Airbus A318 approved for Head Up Display |publisher=Airbus.com |date=2007-12-03 |access-date=2009-10-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071207164904/http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/07_12_03_a318_hud.html |archive-date = December 7, 2007}}</ref> HUDs were also added to the [[Space Shuttle]] orbiter.