Patent ID: 7817065

Claim:
An airport viewing system which is installed in an aircraft, comprising: a positioning device that determines the current position of the aircraft; a memory that records at least one airport map; a display device configured to present, on at least one viewing screen, at least partially, an airport map with which can be associated a symbol illustrating said current position of the aircraft; an interface device configured to allow an operator to operate on the display used by said display device; at least one storage device that stores a plurality of airport maps; a selection device that stores an airport map stored in said storage device in order to transmit it to said display device so that it can display it, said selection device comprising at least an automatic selection device to select automatically an airport map to be displayed, according to at least the current position of the aircraft; and reference device associated with said storage device, that determines a reference point for each airport whose map is stored in said storage device, and a coverage volume which is defined around said reference point, wherein said display device is produced to display a first type of display mode, in which said symbol illustrating said current position of the aircraft is fixed on the viewing screen and said airport map is mobile, and wherein said automatic selection device comprise a first element which automatically selects an airport map, according to the current position of the aircraft and a coverage volume of an airport, wherein said first element of said automatic selection device optimizes said coverage volume, as a function of the maximum scale of the display device and of the proximity of the airports.