Made in the 1950s by Avion, a division of ACF Corporation, OPERATION PINPOINT outlines the use of a new horizontal position display, which was an innovation that allowed pilots to navigate with relative ease. It’s unclear whether this display was ever adopted or deployed, as we’ve been unable to find references to it on the Internet. If you know about it — let us know in the comments!
According ot the film, the display was developed with Wright Air Development Center’s Flight Control Laboratory and Avion. It allowed an unprecedented degree of accuracy. At 2:60, a large glass slide containing a transparent map is shown, representing an area larger than the continental USA. With the Horizontal System Display (HSD), the aircraft’s position could be shown in real time, with the map moving with relation to X-Y co-ordinates. At 5:20, the television relay system that serves as the heart of the unit is shown with its 1″ tube capable of displaying 600 lines of resolution (slightly less than a home TV system). At 5:44 a slide rule is shown on the desk of an engineer who is prepping the HSD system. At 6:48, a pilot is shown flying with the use of the HSD system on board an F-86 Sabre. At 8:20, new ideas are shown for the HSD including using it to display sector scan radar, velocity data, terrain clearance, landing aids, and other information that would now (in modern times) be shown on a heads-up display.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
