HUGDs in RJs....
 

Just wondering.... I have seen many pics of CRJs and ERJs with HUGDs on the captain's side. However I noticed they were all european airlines.

Any regionals in the US have them? If not, why not? (are they THAT cheap:D)

I heard Horizon has them on the Q400 though......

QX has them in all of the airplanes.

Actually they (the HUDs) aren't that cheap... that's why you don't see them. It's not a matter of the carriers being too cheap to purchase them, it's a matter of not being able to justify the costs.

Most of the carriers in the US that fly CRJs don't have a need for them. The additional expenses of maintaining the displays and training the crews for the small number of days where reduced minimums (CAT II or CAT III) approaches would significantly outweigh the benefits.

QX has them since they operate in areas more prone to lower weather, as well as fly RNP RNAV approaches.

Are the HUDs required to be certified for CAT II, or only CAT III? I.E, can you do a CAT II without a HUD or autoland?

At XJT we do Cat II without the HUD or autoland. At 100' the CA either sees the runway, clicks off the AP and lands or calls "minimums, no contact, go around" and the FO initiates and flies the missed. Kinda cool after the fact, I've only done one.

Some of the ERJs that TSA currently has came from Crossair (defunct subsidiary for defunct Swiss Airlines) and were equipped with HUD equipment. They were promptly removed and sold.

Minor error in your facts but Crossair is NOT defunct and in fact it was Crossair that purchased the defunct Swissair several years ago, creating Swiss Airlines. Hows that for a regional getting revenge on their big airline partner:D

Gotcha, I thought they both folded and that's why TSA suddenly had access to a bunch of ERJs.

no need to argue. TSA will soon be defunct and the argument will be moot as someone else will own the airframes.

That they even got that POS autopilot approved to fly CAT II is a miracle in itself.