Selected hover altitude deviation display and method

A selected hover altitude deviation display in an aircraft having a multi-functional display unit that includes a compass rose and an aircraft symbol, the selected hover altitude deviation display comprising:

• a means for generating raw data signals representing status information of current altitude of the aircraft with respect to an external environment of the aircraft, and
• a means for processing and for defining the spatial location and perspective of the multi-functional display unit based upon the signals generated by the means for generating raw data, the means for processing and defining being operative to generate a combined analog/digital hover altitude deviation display that provides visual representations regarding the current altitude of the aircraft with respect to a selected hover altitude, the analog/digital hover altitude deviation display comprising:
• a means for representing the selected hover altitude displayed on the multi-functional display unit, and
• a means for providing a dynamic, analog symbolic representation of the difference between the current altitude of the aircraft and the selected hover altitude, the means for providing a dynamic, analog symbolic representation display disposed on the multi-functional display unit to provide a visual indication of the spatial location of the aircraft with respect to the selected hover altitude indicated on the multi-functional display unit.

A method for displaying the difference between the current altitude of an aircraft and a selected hover altitude on a multi-functional display unit that includes a compass rose and an aircraft symbol, and is operatively connected to a computer processing unit, the method for displaying comprising the steps of:

• generating raw data signals representing status information of current altitude of the aircraft with respect to an external environment of the aircraft;
• processing and defining the spatial location and perspective of the multi-functional display based upon the signals generated by the raw data;
• selecting a hover altitude;
• generating an analog hover altitude deviation display that provides visual representation regarding the current altitude of the aircraft with respect to the selected hover altitude;
• displaying the analog hover altitude deviation display on the multi-functional display unit;
• generating a dynamic, analog symbolic representation of the difference between the current altitude of the aircraft and the selected hover altitude;
• and
• displaying the dynamic, analog symbolic representation of the difference on the multi-functional display unit to provide a visual indication of the spatial location of the aircraft with respect to the selected hover altitude indicated on the multi-functional display unit.