MULTIFUNCTION KEYBOARD FOR ADVANCED CURSOR DRIVEN AVIONIC FLIGHT DECKS

An aircraft display and control system generally includes a processor, a cursor control and selection device, a multifunction keyboard, an aeronautical information database, a geographic database, and a plurality of display devices. Users, such as an aircraft pilot and copilot, can perform flight plan entry and modification by manipulating graphical and textual information on the display devices using the cursor control device and the multifunction keyboard. In one embodiment, the present invention provides an interface to flight deck information systems that is intuitive and easy to use, and which enables flight crew members to easily and effectively enter and modify data displayed by the aircraft flight deck, substantially centralizes avionics controls within one controller, and decreases flight crew “heads-down” time.