Flight HUD Mockup

 

 I put together a quick mockup of what I want the HUD for the one-maned ships to look like.

The center is the standard "ladder", which shows you your angle relative to the horizon.  When you're not close to any planets, it goes away leaving only the center reticule and the "wings".  On the left of the wings is the speed readout, which shows your speed relative to your current target (or absolute speed if you have no target).  Directly under it is the change in speed per second, and below that is the "crab angle" (which is the difference between your heading and track).  On the right is the altitude above the nearest planet, and the change in altitude per second.

The vertical bar on the right indicates your position relative to the atmosphere.  Its height is twice that of the atmosphere of the nearest planet.  The line in the center indicates the top of the atmosphere, and the bottom line indicates sea level.

On top are the warning lights, telling you when things are going wrong.  On the bottom are the status lights, such as gear status.  "THRST FL" means Thruster Flight, which is the flight mode you use in space.  When in Thruster Flight, your maneuvering thrusters control your ships movement.  "SRFC FL" means Surface Flight, meaning the control surfaces on your aircraft (ailerons) control your direction.  This is the flight mode you use when you're inside the atmosphere, and it makes you fly like a normal plane.

Sitting over the ship is the target indicator for non-selected targets.  It simply makes other ships easier to see, and shows you their distance and relative velocity.