This paper, by the Assistant Chief Electro-dynamic Engineer of the British Aircraft Corporation, was originally presented at the Annual General Technical Meeting of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators in September 1976.This paper discusses a programme being carried out jointly by the British Aircraft Corporation and Hawker Siddeley Aviation into the design of flight decks for civil transport aircraft scheduled to enter service in the 1980s. The flight decks of today have evolved as a result of experience gained since manned flight began; it would be foolhardy to ignore this background and in applying new technology care must be exercised in preserving, as far as possible, conventions and practices which have long been established.

This paper discusses a programme of work being carried out jointly by the British Aircraft Corporation and Hawker Siddeley Aviation, into the design of flight decks for future civil transport aircraft. The programme is aimed at exploring all aspects of flight deck design, in sufficient depth to enable decisions to be made as to whether or not significant changes could, or should be introduced into aircraft scheduled to enter service in the 1980s. Some of the information now presented has been published previously by my colleagues engaged on the programme. I make no apology for this, since any story worth telling is also worth repeating — and perhaps embellishing in the process.