Avionics display systems deployed aboard aircraft have been extensively engineered to visually convey a considerable amount of flight information in an intuitive and readily comprehendible manner. In conventional avionics display systems, the majority of the information visually expressed on a display, such as a primary flight display, pertains to the host aircraft's flight parameters (e.g., the heading, drift, roll, and pitch of the host aircraft), nearby geographical features (e.g., mountain peaks, runways, etc.), and current weather conditions (e.g., developing storm cells). Aside from a neighboring aircraft's current detected position, conventional avionics display systems typically provide little, if any, visual information pertaining to neighboring aircraft. This may be due, in part, to current air traffic management (“ATM”) practices wherein air traffic management is generally managed by personnel stationed within air traffic controllers and other ground-based control facilities. However, conventional control facility-based ATM systems are inherently limited in the volume of air traffic that they can effectively manage during a given time period. For this reason, the United States has commenced the development and implementation of a modernized ATM system (commonly referred to as the “Next Generation Air Transportation System” or, more simply, “NextGen”) in which air traffic management will be largely handled by individual flight crews utilizing data compiled from a constellation of computerized systems onboard satellites and neighboring aircraft. Europe has also begun the development and implementation of a similar program commonly referred to as the “Single European Sky ATM Research,” or “SESAR,” program.
In view of the above described trend toward aircrew-centric traffic management, it is desirable to provide an avionics display system and method for visually expressing one or more flight characteristics pertaining to neighboring aircraft. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, these flight characteristics may include the wake turbulence created by a neighboring aircraft, the current flight plan of the neighboring aircraft, and the neighboring aircraft's error-compensated airspace; i.e., the airspace in which the neighboring aircraft's detected position should reside to ensure that the neighboring aircraft's actual position remains within the neighboring aircraft's currently-assigned airspace. It would also be desirable if, in certain embodiments, the avionics display system and method were capable of displaying such flight characteristics when the neighboring aircraft is in a non-flight phase, such as during taxi. It would be feasible that the neighboring aircraft could be in-flight or on the ground. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.