The poor cockpit visibilty and lack of a HUD bugs me the most about most classic Western sci-fi starfighter designs.
Pretty much any star fighter from Star Wars is guilty of this. Not only do they have poor to lousy front visibility, but they have little to no rear visibility and then to top it all, the pilot has to look down into the cockpit to aim, losing his situational awareness.
Lack of a HUD, whether tradional glass panel, helmet (visor) mounted or holographic (Like many Macross VFs have), bothers me far more than lack of a HOTAS.
Even in new BSG, I don't think any sort of HUD or aiming symbology was ever shown or implied (correct me if I am wrong).
Graham