Kong,
I agree with you in to an extent. but in defense of the HUD option. some of the gauges are very hard to read or you are unable to read them at all. if I could clearly see all of my gauges in all of the aircraft I would say that the HUD system is un needed. ( i cant even read the German and Brit gauges )
Petey,
I hate to tell you this, but you get that in real aircraft as well. Gauges hidden behind the yoke, on the other side of the cockpit, or otherwise placed in areas where you can't easily see/read them, and this is in aircraft built in the last 30 years or so. Back in the Dark Ages (including all time periods covered by this sim) gauge and control placement wasn't really standardized, and as more stuff was added, it would be shoe-horned in wherever it could be made to fit.
Mike