If you’re looking for some fun couch flying, Rockwell Collins has recently launched HGS Flight — an app for the Apple iPad that allows you to play with the company’s head-up guidance system (HGS) features.
“This app is meant for anyone, including current or future pilots, aircraft owners, passengers and any aviation enthusiast who wants to see what it’s like to fly with HGS,” said Colin Mahoney, vice president for commercial systems at Rockwell Collins.
The career mode of the app offers a series of flights, which can be flown in a large business jet or a heavier airliner, that take you on an approach that becomes progressively more difficult and includes more and more HGS features as you advance.
The first level of the game includes only a simple approach guidance cue that guides you to the runway centerline. You must complete the approach and successfully land on the runway to continue to the next level. As you progress through the ranks, more parameters are added, such as speed and altitude tapes and additional HGS-specific symbols, and you can select a synthetic-vision view – a capability that Rockwell Collins was first to certify for head-up displays. Eventually, a throttle control is added as well. The culmination of career mode is “Senior Flight Captain” status.
Another mode called “challenge mode” allows you to create your own flight conditions using parameters such as day/night, cloud conditions, wind conditions and surface visibility.
The HGS Flight app can be downloaded for free from the Apple's App Store.
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