Compass designs changes from Mig-15 to Mig-19?

One of the features that I love in the Mig-15Bis is the compass. It is clear and instantly tells you from where you are flying and to where you are going. And it doesn't take much time to learn quickly see your heading in 5 degree accuracy at glance.

But then in the Mig-19 the engineers has already gone to the current style, where North is always UP and the compass is read by looking the degree value in the outer ring that rotates.

With more modern compass you get couple additional features to it like radio compass needle and course selector needle. But couldn't those things be added to the Mig-15Bis style compass itself?

You would there rotate the course around, and you would have a one needle to point to the radio beacon and then have the aircraft symbol rotate around, and you have the correct heading when all three points to same direction.

I can think that it is more secure way to keep heading with the symbol than with number. And visualize the attack directions or look at the map on kneeboard and see that the waypoint goes to specific direction and then just at glance notice that on what direction you should start to turn etc.

I was a submarine sonar tech and operated both the BQQ-5B FY83 SHAB and the BQR-21. Our displays had compass headings across the top, while the vertical represented time. We typically ran either a North centered display (similar to a compass with North at the top) or a South centered display, with a "V" bow marker to show which way ownship was currently heading (like the outer ring). But we were just a button push away from using relative bearings with 0 degrees at the center and representing the direction the ship was traveling or 180 degrees marking the ships' stern. Relative bearings also came up automatically if we lost the ship's heading input for any reason.

The reason for being able to switch to south centered displays is to put key contact data where it is easier to see. i.e. if contact data was crossing the south, making it a south centered display put all of that data together at the center rather than split between the edges of the screen... same thing for bow centered or stern centered: use whatever makes the data you are analyzing easier to read.

No matter what I liked, all that mattered is what the people in control needed to see: they wanted North/South centered displays so that they could correlate sonar information with the paper chart/plotter they were using for navigation and tactical decisions. But when trying to build fire control solutions in my head, putting the bow at the center of the display was by far the easiest way to build the tactical picture since I didn't care what our actual heading was, but where the enemy was relative to my course and speed.

In the end, you can adapt to what you are provided, but it would sure be nice if you had switches, like I had in sonar, to make it the way that works best for you rather than what other people liked or wanted :P