Soon private airplane pilots will abandon their old instrumentation and adopt a modern touch-based interface in their airplanes.
Avionics company Rockwell Collins is developing the first touchscreen primary flight display (PFD) for business jets and turboprop planes. These displays will make it easy for pilots to change flight parameters and even the flight plan with a few taps and a couple of gestures.
Besides a modern interface, these new touchscreens will also be safer for pilots. Pilots won’t have to look down and fiddle with their instrumention. The PFD will be installed in a location that allows pilots to keep their eyes upward and forward while flying, similar to a properly mounted GPS device in a car.
FAA certification of this new display is expected in 2013 and it’ll land in cockpits soon after. [Rockwell Collins via GizMag]
You can keep up with Kelly Hodgkins, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google + or Facebook.
