Binocular Camera for cockpit visibility of general aviation aircraft

A history of cockpit visibility studies and requirements with regard to aircraft safety, human factors, collision avoidance, and accident investigations is presented. The Federal Aviation Administration's development of the Binocular Camera is reviewed, and the technical details of a new and improved camera are discussed. The Binocular Camera uses two 65 mm wide angle F6.8 lenses and covers an 88 1/2 deg field of vision. The camera produces images, representative of what the human eyes see before the brain integrates them into one, thus making it possible to analyze the effect of obstruction to vision. The improvements, applications, and uses of the camera in the research, development, and operations of general aviation aircraft are discussed.