Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1453 The Human-Machine Problem in the Cockpit (4k)

Do they know? If they knew, they probably wouldn't be waiting for you to bring it up.

Or rather, they knew about it, but didn't really recognize it as a problem, and didn't consider better solutions.

This situation is very common. As the saying goes, "You can't see the true face of Mount Lu because you are in the mountain itself." The more familiar something is, the more accustomed you become to it, and the less you think about what needs to be improved.

However, what the comrades from the Air Force Equipment Bureau didn't expect was that the comrades on the other side actually realized what was going on, under Gao Zhendong's guidance.

"Chief Engineer Gao is right! During flight, if you switch your gaze from the display below to the forward sight, there is a process of refocusing your eyes, and vice versa! This will affect the pilot's ability to grasp relevant information in a timely manner. If it is not a problem during flight, but in air combat or emergency air situation, even the slightest delay can have serious consequences."

This is the difference between HUD navigation and central control navigation in a car.

"Is it really that mysterious?"

This time, it was the comrades from the Military Optics Institute who added that they had also realized: "This is the case. Because the sight is focused at infinity, there will be a switch in the line of sight."

"Then why not focus the sights right in front of your eyes?" The comrades from the Air Force Equipment Bureau thought this was easy to solve.

"If that's the case, the target the pilot sees will be blurred when the sight is engaged, making it very difficult to aim," said the colleague from the Military Optics Institute. They were optics specialists and knew this even better than the pilots, because they could explain the underlying principles.

The purpose of focusing the sight to infinity is to be able to see both the aiming point and the target clearly on the sight at the same time.

"Ah...I see." I've learned something new.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "Since everyone understands the principle, I'll continue. My idea is to expand this sight into a display. Although the information displayed on this display is limited, we can still project the most important parameters onto it, still using the method of focusing to infinity. This way, even in the most intense dogfights, the pilot can still grasp the core status of the aircraft as much as possible. I wonder what the Air Force comrades think of this approach?"

This is Gao Zhendong's idea: the standard configuration for third-generation fighter jets is one horizontal and three vertical. The three vertical configuration is ready and we've started working on it, but the horizontal configuration is still nowhere in sight.

Head-up displays, sometimes called head-up displays, were later adopted by civilian cars. They were once only found in high-end sedans. However, with the rise of domestic new energy vehicles, they have become more common.

The Air Force personnel laughed. What else could they possibly think? This was exactly what they wanted!
"No opinion, this is good! If I had to give an opinion, it would be the sooner the better!" What else could they say? Chief Engineer Gao had already thought of everything they needed to think of, so they just had to accept it.

It's quite puzzling that Chief Engineer Gao, who originally came from the army, is so familiar with air force equipment and even combat details.

Comrade: Guess who I co-authored my book on air combat theory with? Who contributed more?
"Hmm, this shouldn't be too complicated. A high-brightness CRT monitor, plus a set of optical lenses, projected onto the original aiming position will suffice. It's just that the display area needs to be increased now. The more complicated part is the software." The comrades from the Military Optics Institute had already started brainstorming.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, if we use the principle of refraction, this device is not very difficult to make."

In fact, as the colleagues at the Military Optics Institute said, the difficulty of using a flat surface image is not that high. At least that's true for refraction-type images.

However, Gao Zhendong was not planning to start working on a diffraction head-up display right now. The manufacturing process of that thing was quite difficult, and it would be too costly to start right away.

In fact, the biggest advantage of diffraction HUDs compared to refractive or reflective HUDs is not their smaller size and lighter weight, but their wider viewing angle and higher brightness.

The slight increase in size and weight is manageable on airplanes if there are other advantages, but the disadvantages in viewing angle and brightness are the real reasons why head-up displays (HUDs) have been replaced.

Gao Zhendong stood up and drew a light path directly on the blackboard. He knew the light path of the refraction head-up display. The reason was simple—back then, he had a moment of inspiration and wanted to install an external HUD in his car. He had spent a lot of time researching it.

He couldn't handle diffraction displays, but he figured refraction or reflection should be no problem, so he focused his efforts on those two. And indeed, they didn't stump him; it was just that his progress was a bit slow. By the time he had a pretty good grasp of it, his family had bought a new car… a domestically produced new energy vehicle with a head-up display (HUD).

Plans can't keep up with changes, that's a valid point.

However, as it turns out, having many skills is never a bad thing. You can't fit them in a car anymore, but now you can fit them on an airplane!
At this moment, the comrades at the Military Optics Institute felt a bit like their work had been stolen. No, it's fine if you find a research direction, that means you have research on combat, I acknowledge that.

But to have even designed the optical path is a bit excessive; this is our job.

If the colleagues from the Northeast Institute of Optics were here, they probably wouldn't have this reaction. Hey, they're experts at this. They were familiar with materials back then, and now they've also got expertise in optics itself. It's not a big deal.

However, Gao Zhendong didn't consider this matter at all. He didn't care about yours or mine. As long as it's work, it has to be done. He, Gao, only cares about work.

Amidst the surprised gazes of his colleagues from the Air Force and the Air Force, and the slightly resentful looks of his colleagues from the Military Optics Institute, Gao Zhendong quickly completed an optical path diagram for a refractive head-up display.

He examined it again for a couple more times, then patted the chalk dust off his hands with satisfaction.

"Yes, this should be useful as a reference. Although it has some flaws, it's still usable," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

A defect? ​​The comrades at the Military Optics Institute immediately perked up their ears.

It's good that it has flaws; if it has flaws, then we still have a place to use our skills.

"Chief Engineer Gao, what other defects are there?"

"This type of refractive head-up display has a relatively small viewing angle and a relatively large loss of light intensity, resulting in a not very high brightness," Gao Zhendong summarized.

The Air Force comrades didn't take it to heart at all. Smaller is fine, darker is fine, as long as it works. As long as it's not unacceptably low, we'll use it first; it's better than nothing: "No problem, no problem, let's solve the problem of having it or not first, hahaha."

The comrades from the Aircraft Equipment Bureau thought more deeply: "Chief Engineer Gao, wouldn't it be better to use a reflective type?"

Would having fewer reflective surfaces improve the situation?

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "Compared to refraction, reflective technology is only slightly better, especially in terms of viewing angle. Moreover, reflective technology has a major problem that makes it difficult to install on aircraft."

"What's the problem?" At this point, all the comrades were wide awake. "CRTs have volume. If it's a reflective type, it means that a huge volume would be required near the pilot, which is unacceptable because that position has the central display screen with three sub-displays! Reflective types don't have this problem. The CRT can be placed near the nose of the aircraft, freeing up valuable space in front of the pilot." Gao Zhendong laughed as he spoke.

He recalled his past life tinkering with HUDs, specifically in cars. Gao Zhendong believed that reflective technology was superior to refraction, ultimately due to the spatial structure.

The comrades from the Military Optics Institute blushed slightly. This was too detailed and too thorough. They were taking a systemic approach and considering all aspects.

However, they have no time to be discouraged by their oversights; for them, now is the time to learn.

"Chief Engineer Gao, is there a way to solve these defects?"

From a technical perspective, this question is fine, but the other two groups of colleagues felt it was a bit of an exaggeration. This concept has only just been proposed, and it's already quite remarkable that there are solutions available. How could they want to continue optimizing it?

Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong actually nodded.

No, you actually have one?
"Yes, but it's difficult because the principles are completely different. You can use it as a long-term development direction, but in the short term, let's start with refraction and have the Air Force comrades use it first. I can tell you the idea first, but as for its implementation, that's up to you comrades. That is diffraction..."

Gao Zhendong explained the principle of diffraction head-up display, and the colleagues at the Military Optics Institute immediately understood it, since light diffraction is a fundamental concept in optics.

However, while they understood the concept, they also knew that diffraction head-up displays (HUDs) were significantly more difficult to implement than refraction HUDs. The principle was simple, but the implementation was challenging.

"Hmm, I understand... but this is indeed quite difficult to do."

"Yes, the design of the lens alone requires a lot of effort."

"Not only that, even if the design is successful, the fabrication of the diffraction grating is quite difficult."

The difficulty of this thing lies in all aspects, from design to manufacturing, while the principle itself is quite simple.

This phenomenon matches high school physics; optical experiments involving reflection and refraction are easy to understand and relatively easy to perform. However, when it comes to diffraction and interference, the intensity increases.

It seems that Chief Engineer Gao's arrangement and plan are reasonable. He first solved the problem of whether or not the technology existed by using the refraction method, which has lower technical difficulty, and then solved the problem of the effect by using the diffraction method in the long term. This is the best of both worlds.

The Air Force was deeply moved. Chief Engineer Gao not only raised the problem, but also found several solutions, one guaranteed to be usable and the other guaranteed to be used well.

He really made his comrades cry their eyes out.

There are very few experts with this ability; they not only need to have profound theoretical knowledge, but also extensive experience in engineering applications.

"That's roughly the situation. I'll have to trouble you with the rest of the work."

Having explained the basic principles of diffraction head-up display, quite some time has passed.

In this matter, Gao Zhendong was in charge of the killings but not the burials. He believed in the abilities of his comrades and in the improved environmental conditions.

With its glass cockpit, one level and three lower sections, plus the previously activated canopy ejection system, Gao Zhendong believes he has done a good job in the ergonomics of the fighter jet cockpit. As for the side sticks, he decided against them, as they would be too much of a change from his usual habits.
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Although Gao Zhendong felt that the cockpit problem had been mostly resolved, he had actually forgotten one thing: there was a very important piece of equipment in the cockpit that, due to inherent deficiencies and insufficient time for development, still posed certain hidden dangers.

Fortunately, Gao Zhendong wasn't the only one working on equipment; many people were putting in the effort, and sometimes the solution came from an unexpected little thing.

A routine air raid was underway over northern Vietnam.

Since this quagmire-like war escalated, the situation has entered a strange stalemate, as if two people of the same height are fighting, with arms of the same length, and neither can hit the other.

One side won almost all the ground battles, but was helpless against the enemy's rear base north of that line.

The other side doesn't face much survival pressure, but achieving their goals in the south is very difficult.

That invisible line clearly divides the two sides.

From south to north, we have always relied on air strikes to try to weaken the enemy's base, but now it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult.

An F-4 Phantom is in formation, making a low-altitude, high-speed attack on the target.

As a state-of-the-art naval fighter jet, it could only do the job of dropping iron bombs, which greatly displeased Captain James, who was piloting the aircraft.

Because his aircraft lacked cannons and even external SUU-16/A pods, coupled with the somewhat poor accuracy of the missiles it carried, his aircraft did not have much of an advantage even when facing the opponent's subsonic MiG-17. In particular, when the opponent closed into dogfighting range, James had no choice but to turn around and engage afterburner.

Because he didn't have a cannon. Even his colleagues with pods had a hard time facing enemy MiG fighters, since the pods weren't very accurate.

However, the enemy has few fighter jets, which is their opportunity. Low-altitude attacks offer a higher survival rate compared to medium- and high-altitude attacks.

Although there is a possibility of being detected by observation posts, low-altitude raids are still relatively effective. After all, this adversary is not the Easterner to its north, who do not have such good situational awareness, such efficient command and control capabilities, or even such sufficient air combat capabilities.

As long as they avoid the Easterners' engineering battalions, their survival rate will increase by at least 70%. Damn it, who knows why the Easterners call those heavily armed air defense forces "engineering battalions"?

James was lucky; he dropped all his bombs as planned, although some were "slightly" ahead of schedule. But he assured God he had done his best.

After dropping the bomb, James began to pull up, preparing to turn and disengage. It wasn't too far from the border of that big guy to the north. 200 kilometers seemed like a long distance, but for an F-4, it wasn't actually a very long distance.

Just as James pulled up to the expected altitude, the onboard radar alarm suddenly went off.

(End of this chapter)