Pilot's Eye View of Mt. Rainier - Through the HUD

In my pre-Realtor days, I was a pilot.

While flying for Delta Air Lines, I was fortunate to fly as Captain on their Boeing 737-800 which was one of the first airliners to have a “heads up display” (HUD) for the Captain. This HUD is a piece of clear glass that hangs in front of the pilot, near the windshield, and displays all of the necessary flight data, including altitude, airspeed, and heading.

This image shows Mt. Rainier, in Washington state, not long after take-off from Seattle. The HUD shows that we were climbing through 10,980 feet at an indicated airspeed of 311 knots (about 455 miles/hour) and a heading of about 117 degrees. The small double circle with the "wings" sticking out each side shows that the current flight path would take us above and to the right of the mountain’s peak. Of course, we would turn back on course long before we got too close to the mountain.