Alan Dron
Sadly, it won't take away the sound of that boring passenger droning on beside you, but Ultra Electronics believes that its latest noise reduction system will nevertheless make flights less tiring affairs.
The company is launching its UltraQuiet seat at the show, which it claims will remove around 75% of the noise in a typical airliner cabin.
The new seat builds on Ultra Electronics' earlier cabin noise control systems, which head of sales and marketing Rob McDonald says are now onboard some 250 aircraft, including the Saab 2000, Canadair Challenger and Beech King Air.
The UltraQuiet seat uses the same active noise control technology to create a 'quiet zone' around a passenger's head. The system, currently installed in the headrest of a seat by Norwegian manufacturer sapDesign, works by broadcasting sound waves of the same frequency and amplitude, but of opposite phase to unwanted noise, canceling it out.
It removes low-frequency sound (below 1,000 Hz) from engine exhaust gases, airflow and cabin air conditioning.
What remains is similar to 'white noise', a background hiss.
Inside Ultra Electronics' Hall 4 stand, a demonstration seat inside a cubicle plays the simulated noise from inside a Boeing 747 business class cabin. Once the seat system is activated, noise levels drop by about 10db to 75db, says McDonald. Due to the way noise is calculated, this results in a 75% noise reduction, he claims.
Ultra Electronics is aiming for each seat noise unit to weigh less than 680g and cost less than $400: "Those are the numbers that airlines have told us we have to meet to make it viable."
Unfortunately, not all passengers are likely to benefit: "Airlines could easily put it on to any seat, but all airlines are trying to differentiate their first and business classes, and that's probably where most units will end up."
Both British Airways and Scandinavian Airline System have had demonstrations of the UltraQuiet seat and Virgin may be a visitor this week.
Source: Flight Daily News
