"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
.. .
Dudley Henriques made the same objection when I suggested the same idea on
rec.aviation.piloting. The most significant problem with the objection is
that no one is proposing that the pilot stare at the screen - simply add
an
occasional glance at the screen to the pilot's normal visual scan. Such a
device should be no more objectional than the rearview mirrors in an
automobile - devices that add more to safe driving than they detract.

One more objection to the objection is :-)

At first glance, you might think that what you are proposing is safe and
workable, but it isn't in my opinion, and for several reasons. First of all,
nothing, and I repeat NOTHING, can take the place of a basic eyeball scan
OUTSIDE the cockpit when taxiing an aircraft in the WW2 tailwheel fighter
category. The entire concept of ground safety when taxiing these airplanes
is based on the simple premise that "if you can't clear or haven't cleared
the path in front of the nose for the linear distance the airplane will
travel before you can clear it again, YOU STOP THE AIRPLANE! This is a
cardinal rule when taxiing these airplanes and for very good reason. If you
hit something while taxiing a tailwheel prop fighter because you didn't see
it, you have taxied the airplane in conditions that are in direct violation
of this cardinal safety rule.
Now, as for your TV screen on the panel; it's no good for several reasons.
First of all, even if simply included in your taxi scan, it takes the scan
inside the cockpit then outside again which is bad, since a great deal of
the visual cues involved in taxiing these airplanes are based on a visual
cue received during a horizontal movement of the nose projecting a safe path
for a projected FUTURE TIME LINE, and not where the nose is pointed NOW!.
Secondly, any screen small enough to be placed in a fighter panel would not
be projecting an image in life size, and that alone brings an additional
mental calculation into the futures equation as to exactly how far ahead of
the airplane any viewed image in the screen might be.
Tools are wonderful, and in many instances that can be of great help, but
when it comes to taxiing a tailwheel fighter plane or a tailwheel torpedo
bomber, there is absolutely nothing that can replace the rule, "if you
haven't cleared it with your eyes, it hasn't been cleared"
Dudley Henriques