Cockpit

A cockpit or flight deck[1] is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle.

The same term later came to designate the place from which a sailing vessel is steered, because it is also located in the rear, and is often in a well or "pit".

[6] The original meaning of "cockpit", first attested in the 1580s, is "a pit for fighting cocks", referring to the place where cockfights were held.

This meaning no doubt influenced both lines of evolution of the term, since a cockpit in this sense was a tight enclosure where a great deal of stress or tension would occur.

In an airliner, the cockpit is usually referred to as the flight deck, the term deriving from its use by the RAF for the separate, upper platform in large flying boats where the pilot and co-pilot sat.

Prior to Perspex becoming available in 1933, windows were either safety glass, which was heavy, or cellulose nitrate (i.e.: guncotton), which yellowed quickly and was extremely flammable.

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, the Spirit of St. Louis and the passenger aircraft manufactured by the Douglas and Boeing companies during the mid-1930s.

Nearly all glass windows in large aircraft have an anti-reflective coating, and an internal heating element to melt ice.

The captain or pilot in command sits in the left seat, so that they can operate the throttles and other pedestal instruments with their right hand.

The layout and function of cockpit displays controls are designed to increase pilot situation awareness without causing information overload.

The majority of the systems-related controls (such as electrical, fuel, hydraulics and pressurization) for example, are usually located in the ceiling on an overhead panel.

A study undertaken in 2013, to assess methods for cockpit-user menu navigation, found that touchscreen produced the "best scores".

The Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), used by Boeing and Embraer, or the Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM), used by Airbus, allow the pilot to monitor the following information: values for N1, N2 and N3, fuel temperature, fuel flow, the electrical system, cockpit or cabin temperature and pressure, control surfaces and so on.

Cockpit design disciplines include Cognitive science, Neuroscience, Human–computer interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Anthropometry and Ergonomics.

In such designs, instruments and gauges, including navigational map displays, use a user interface markup language known as ARINC 661.