Kickstarter HUD - Good For Aviation?

Sinistar

Sinistar

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Brad
https://www.hudway.co/sight/

Saw this one today. Hasn't even kicked off yet. But seems far more appealing than that huge dash mount HUD that was recently discussed.

For aviation, what would be good data to show, provided it was clearly visible in bright daylight?

Would be nice if it could be mounted to a hat instead of a helmet.
 
Maybe a few:

Traffic (via ADSB)
Landing glidescope (via GPS panel equip)
Glide ring overlaid on ground (complex!)
AOA (afraid to mention it)
Other camera views (outside plane, rear passengers)
Night vision (need a lot of IR light power)
B, C, D airspace boundaries
 
Sinistar said:
https://www.hudway.co/sight/

Saw this one today. Hasn't even kicked off yet. But seems far more appealing than that huge dash mount HUD that was recently discussed.

For aviation, what would be good data to show, provided it was clearly visible in bright daylight?

Would be nice if it could be mounted to a hat instead of a helmet.
Click to expand...

"Clearly visible" is one challenge for sure. See my comments about the Eagle Optix offering.

 
The HUD I get to use shows the extended centerline of the runway loaded in the FMS. It's overlayed on the actual runway and from all directions it makes it easy to intercept a final course. Also using the infrared camera you can see through cloud layers and those really smoggy days where visibility is low. That would be a neat addition. If I am going to wear that big helmet, I should get a lot of functionality.
 
I don't think you'd need to wear that big of a helmet...just seems like they're targeting motorcycles, bicycles, etc.

I got night current earlier this week. Being able to look for deer would have been worth it!
 
Of the few “real” and “difficult” Kickstarters I’ve supported over the years Kickstarter has been around...

They were very specialized things that nobody would ever invest in.

Kickstarters for aviation products are a bit worrisome in that there’s decent places to finance something that will sell heavily in aviation.

We’re a small group in terms of market numbers, but we spend heavily on the stuff that really works.

And we’re not truly a niche market like the ones I’ve supported.

Here’s the rest of that story. Out of four of those niche things I’ve supported, two actually made it to product status and two didn’t. Both that did took two years to complete. One of those wasn’t of very high quality when completed.

25% ROI if you’re looking for “this is a great product” from Kickstarter. And a question they need to answer for an aviation product: “Why Kickstarter?”

Because it’s a market where we’re dumb enough to pay tens of thousands for a GPS and hundreds a year on mobile apps... as long as they work. Investors will fund aviation businesses if the product looks like it’ll sell.

Just thoughts. Haven’t had much luck finding things that made me say “Oh, everyone is going to want one of those!” on Kickstarter under any category, but in aviation I would really give anything offered as a Kickstarter a very skeptical hairy eyeball.

It MIGHT indicate laziness in the business plan and/or unwillingness to spend the time pitching it to a traditional or venture capital type lender.
 
denverpilot said:
Of the few “real” and “difficult” Kickstarters I’ve supported over the years Kickstarter has been around...

They were very specialized things that nobody would ever invest in.

Kickstarters for aviation products are a bit worrisome in that there’s decent places to finance something that will sell heavily in aviation.

We’re a small group in terms of market numbers, but we spend heavily on the stuff that really works.

And we’re not truly a niche market like the ones I’ve supported.

Here’s the rest of that story. Out of four of those niche things I’ve supported, two actually made it to product status and two didn’t. Both that did took two years to complete. One of those wasn’t of very high quality when completed.

25% ROI if you’re looking for “this is a great product” from Kickstarter. And a question they need to answer for an aviation product: “Why Kickstarter?”

Because it’s a market where we’re dumb enough to pay tens of thousands for a GPS and hundreds a year on mobile apps... as long as they work. Investors will fund aviation businesses if the product looks like it’ll sell.

Just thoughts. Haven’t had much luck finding things that made me say “Oh, everyone is going to want one of those!” on Kickstarter under any category, but in aviation I would really give anything offered as a Kickstarter a very skeptical hairy eyeball.

It MIGHT indicate laziness in the business plan and/or unwillingness to spend the time pitching it to a traditional or venture capital type lender.
Click to expand...
The appealing part of this one is that it's primary audience IS NOT aviation, but rather motorcycles, bicycles, etc. Maybe I misunderstood their initial offer but it looked like around $500 would get you an early one.....if it ever kicks off or were to complete.

What I liked was the more general audience and being open to developers..maybe it would find its way to aviation and be a much cheaper, less obtrusive option than the eagle optix monster.
 
Brad Z said:
Or even mounted to a headset would work...
Click to expand...
Total duhhh moment on my part. I've been getting pretty used to the Halos..thus the ball cap comment. On old pair of DC's would probably haul this mini HUD no problem!
 
0B46922A-F51E-4F85-A740-B33D029A892E.jpeg
If it had the usual six pack symbology and NVG / IR sensor like above, I’d use it but only at night or IMC. Doubtful a smaller user friendly version will be available for private GA anytime soon. At least not something I could afford.

For a typical day VFR flight, I’m barely looking at instrumentation as it is so 90% of my flights, I’d never use it.
 
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Sinistar said:
I don't think you'd need to wear that big of a helmet...just seems like they're targeting motorcycles, bicycles, etc.

I got night current earlier this week. Being able to look for deer would have been worth it!
Click to expand...
This didn't even occur to me. IR would be great at night on a bike. My biggest fear when I was riding all the time was finding a mattress or some piece of furniture on the freeway at night with my front tire.
 
I want to see stuff that can change fairly quickly - airspeed, altitude, attitude (including heading), angle of attack, g's, flight director 'needles'. I want a flight path marker ("velocity vector") and maybe, just maybe, sideslip in the form of a ghost vector. Not much else I "need". There seems to be a tendency to cram way too much info into displays these days...so of course give me a 'declutter' option too.

Nauga,
and HUD SYM REJECT 1
 
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