It’s a little hard to believe, but I’m flying a Cirrus SR22T equipped with a real head-up display (HUD), and despite the fact that it’s going to sell for about one-tenth to one-twentieth the cost of a traditional HUD, the SKYDISPLAY HUD, designed by MYGOFLIGHT, really works.

The flight took place on a sunny August day out of Centennial Airport in Denver and included two IFR approaches into Colorado Springs and another approach back to our origin.

AN AIRCRAFT HUD FOR THE REST OF US.

There is a notable difference between the SKYDISPLAY HUD and traditional monochrome business jet and airliner HUDs, and that is the MYGOFLIGHT HUD displays two colors on the combiner. The SKYDISPLAY HUD can output full color, but “only two colors can safely be used in all light and background color situations,” according to the company, and these are green and magenta.

I have noticed when flying airplanes with HUDs that I am much smoother on the controls when I look through the HUD than when looking down at the PFD. This may be due to the way the FPM and flight director cue circles work together versus the command bars on the PFD and the difference in the amount of vertical space depicted on the HUD versus the PFD, but this was also the case with the SkyDIsplay HUD in the Cirrus.

The two ILS approaches into Colorado Springs were among the smoothest I have flown, bringing us accurately down to the decision altitude.

On the missed approach after the first ILS, the HUD helped me set the proper climb attitude and fly the correct heading while allowing me to keep looking through the windshield.

After the second ILS, again just as smooth, we returned to Centennial for an RNAV 28 (LPV) approach. The HUD made flying the approach easy, and even though the weather was clear, I could see that the HUD would be a great asset in poor visibility.

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