A system for generating a real time perspective view of the terrain lying along an aircraft's flight path accesses terrain data stored in a digital map generator and converts the data into a perspective representation of the terrain on the face of a suitable display such as a cockpit instrument panel CRT. The stored map data that is accessed provides, in real time, information pertaining to elevation features of the terrain over which the aircraft is flying, so that upon conversion to a perspective presentation to the pilot, there is provided a real time perspective image of the contours of the terrain as though the pilot were looking out a windscreen at the terrain in high visibility conditions. The invention also is capable of providing perspective scene rotation and translation (corresponding to roll and pitch of the aircraft).