The word "cockpit" was first attested in the 1580s, referring to "a pit for fighting cocks." This original meaning, a tight enclosure with stress or tension, influenced later uses. In the 17th century, it was a nautical term for an area in the rear of a ship where the cockswain's station was located; the cockswain was the pilot of a smaller boat. By the 18th century, it designated an area in the rear lower deck of a warship where the wounded were taken. The term later came to designate the place from which a sailing vessel is steered, also located in the rear and often in a well or "pit."
A convergent etymology involves the site of a theater called The Cockpit in London, which was built where a cockpit for cock-fighting had once stood. This led to the word meaning a control center. From about 1935, "cockpit" came to be used informally to refer to the driver's cabin, especially in high-performance cars, and is now official terminology for the compartment a driver occupies in a Formula One car. The seat of a powerboat racing craft is also referred to as the cockpit.
Early aircraft had open cockpits, with the first enclosed cabin appearing in 1912 on the Avro Type F. Enclosed cockpits became the norm by the Second World War, with open-cockpit airplanes almost extinct by the mid-1950s, except for training planes, crop-dusters, and homebuilt aircraft designs. The largest impediment to closed cabins was window material; Perspex became available in 1933. Early airplanes with closed cockpits include the 1924 Fokker F.VII, the 1926 German Junkers W 34 transport, the 1926 Ford Trimotor, the 1927 Lockheed Vega, and the Spirit of St. Louis.
In most cockpits, the pilot's control column or joystick is located centrally, though some military fast jets use a side-stick on the right. In some commercial airliners, both pilots use a side-stick on the outboard side. The captain or pilot in command sits in the left seat, operating throttles and other pedestal instruments with their right hand, while the co-pilot sits in the right seat. The layout of the cockpit, especially in military fast jets, has undergone standardization. An important development was the "Basic Six" pattern, later the "Basic T," developed from 1937 onwards by the Royal Air Force to optimize pilot instrument scanning.
Modern cockpit design emphasizes ergonomics and human factors to increase pilot situational awareness without information overload. Historically, many cockpits, especially in fighter aircraft, limited pilot size; now, they are designed to accommodate a wider range of physical sizes. In military fast jets, traditional "knobs and dials" are largely absent, replaced by electronic displays and multi-function re-configurable controls. Controls are incorporated onto the stick and throttle, known as the Hands On Throttle And Stick (HOTAS) concept, allowing pilots to maintain a head-up and eyes-out position. These controls may be augmented by head pointing with a Helmet Mounted Sighting System or Direct voice input (DVI).
In modern airliners, the layout of control panels is largely unified. Systems-related controls (electrical, fuel, hydraulics, pressurization) are usually on an overhead panel. Radios are generally on a panel between the pilot's seats, known as the pedestal. Automatic flight controls, such as the autopilot, are usually placed just below the windscreen on the glareshield. A central concept in cockpit design is the Design Eye Position (DEP), from which all displays should be visible. Most modern cockpits also include an integrated warning system. A 2013 study found that touchscreen produced the "best scores" for cockpit-user menu navigation.
In the modern electronic cockpit, essential electronic flight instruments include the MFD, PFD, ND, EICAS, FMS/CDU, and back-up instruments.
A Mode control panel (MCP), typically a long narrow panel centrally located in front of the pilot, controls heading, speed, altitude, vertical speed, and navigation. It can also engage or disengage the autopilot and autothrottle. This panel is often referred to as the "glareshield panel." MCP is a Boeing designation, while Airbus refers to a similar unit as the FCU (Flight Control unit).
The primary flight display (PFD) is usually in a prominent position and includes a digitized presentation of the attitude indicator, air speed, altitude, and vertical speed indicators. It often includes a heading indicator and ILS/VOR deviation indicators, along with engaged and armed autoflight system modes. A navigation display (ND), which may be adjacent to the PFD, shows the route, information on the next waypoint, wind speed, and wind direction. The PFD and ND may be pilot selectable to swap positions.
The Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), used by Boeing and Embraer, or the Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM), used by Airbus, allows pilots to monitor engine values, fuel temperature, fuel flow, the electrical system, and cockpit/cabin temperature and pressure. The flight management system/control and/or display unit (FMS/MCDU) is used by the pilot to enter and check information such as flight plan, speed control, and navigation control.
In case of other instrument failure, a battery-powered integrated standby instrument system along with a magnetic compass, showing essential flight information, is located in a less prominent part of the cockpit.
In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have researched ergonomic aspects of cockpit design and investigated airline industry accidents. Cockpit design disciplines include Cognitive science, Neuroscience, Human–computer interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Anthropometry, and Ergonomics.
Aircraft designs have adopted the fully digital "glass cockpit," where instruments and gauges use a user interface markup language known as ARINC 661. This standard defines the interface between an independent cockpit display system and the avionics equipment and user applications it supports.
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