STEVE NICHOLS
New technologies demonstrated on board a Boeing 737-900 earlier this year are already being rolled out on production aircraft. The Boeing Technology Demonstrator (OS17/ Hall4, C14-8), which carried customers and journalists on 21 flights in March and April, was equipped with examples of:
The quiet climb system (QCS) Vertical situation display (VSD) Navigation performance scales (NPS) Integrated approach navigation (IAN) GPS landing system (GLS) Head-up display (HUD) Surface guidance system (SGS) Enhanced vision system (EVS) Synthetic vision system (SVS)QCS, which works by automatically backing off the throttles to manage noise levels over sensitive areas, is already a $10,000 option on the Boeing 737. The system is a better alternative to aircraft performing hard turns on take-off or offloading cargo to reduce weight and therefore engine noise.
Boeing's VSD and NPS will be available from August on the 737 and other aircraft from the beginning of 2004. The VSD gives pilots better situational awareness and received a "very positive response from potential customers" according to Boeing vice-president Troy Brekken. There is a possibility that VSD will be available as a no-cost option IAN will be available from August 2003 and can computer-generate curved "synthetic" instrument landing system (ILS) approaches using flight management system FMS waypoints.
GLS will also be available from August 2003 and the HUD has been an option on 737 for some time – more than half of all new aircraft delivered have the HUD option which costs less than half that of many after-market options.
SGS, EVS and SVS are still experimental technologies, but the demonstrator gave the manufacturers an ideal opportunity to gather potential customer feedback.
Demonstration
The demonstration was a collaborative effort between Boeing and CMC Electronics, Honeywell, Jeppesen, MaxViz, Rockwell Collins and Smiths. The Port of Moses Lake helped with for Honeywell's local area augmentation system (LAAS) and FAA coordination.
Troy Brekken says: "We had talked all the time about what new technology can do for operators, but the demonstrator was an opportunity to really target them. We wanted to see what the industry thought of the new technology and collected lots of useful data from customers on the flights.
"Most airlines are focused on near-term solutions, but a lot of this technology is for the longer term. Nevertheless, someone needs to take a lead on demonstrating this technology," he concludes.
Source: Flight Daily News
