Quickened Manual Flight Control with External Visual Guidance

Techniques for enhancing visual flight control by using quickening concepts are described. The pilot receives both guidance and flight control information from the relative positions of projected virtual images appearing through the windshield and landmarks in the real world. The vehicle may then be controlled to couple to a preselected flight path in space terminating on the landmark. This is accomplished in a continuous control task in which the pilot tracks the landmark with a director image. First-, second-, and third-order quickened control systems are described and analyzed from a dynamic standpoint. These techniques permit the pilot to control and monitor the course of his vehicle while in complete visual contact with the real world. The precision and confidence with which the pilot can implement the control task are augmented.