GUY NORRIS / SEATTLE
Boeing is promoting a 'love of flight' and new spacious design concepts for the 7E7 that it believes represent a major philosophical U-turn in cabin architecture
If passengers vote by the seat of their pants, Boeing hopes the radical concepts being studied for the 7E7 will make the proposed new airliner an outright winner for the 21st century.
To lure people into the aircraft, Boeing is attempting to design a twin-aisle cabin that puts passengers back in touch with the "magic" of flight, and yet at the same time makes them feel comfortable and, somehow, "at home". While these two aims might appear mutually exclusive, Boeing believes its new approach is vital to ensuring the cabin experience will be as much of a step change for the passenger as the operating economics of the 7E7 will be for the airline.
Reminding passengers that they are actually in an aircraft, as opposed to a simulated terrestrial environment, is also a major philosophical U-turn in recent interior design. "It is about 180º different from the other approach," says Boeing director of passenger revenue development Klaus Brauer. Sitting inside the 7E7 cabin mock-up near Seattle, which Boeing is developing in partnership with its traditional interior specialist Teague, Brauer gestures to the radically larger windows and says: "Flying is special but we, as an industry, have almost succeeded in killing it off in a lot of people. But scratch the surface a bit and our research says people will get back to the magic of it."
Brauer adds: "Everyone dreams about flying - no-one dreams about things like toothpaste. They want to be flying in an aircraft, not a hotel lobby." To open up perception to the outside world, one of the most striking features of the design are the tall windows, which appear to be slightly wider than current Boeing cutouts and are around 50cm (20in) high. Recessed into equally massive sidewall embrasures, the windows allow the 95 percentile male in a centre aisle seat to have a view of the horizon above the surrounding seat backs. According to psychologists who helped steer the interior concept, the ability to see the horizon is key to increasing the "feel-good" factor, says Brauer. "We feel strongly the need to connect people with flying, and part of that is to view the horizon."
In place of window shades, Boeing plans to adjust the transparency of the glazing using photo-chromatic technology already being introduced in some business jets. External ambient-light sensors mounted either side of the fuselage will help control the transparency levels on sides facing towards and away from the sun, while cabin staff will also be able to adjust the level and quality of lighting to reflect appropriate conditions.
Passenger control
This could range from "cosy" lighting for meal times to twilight levels to reflect local times at destination. Individual light control units will also enable passengers to have control over their own window transparency, says Brauer.
Another key initiative is the development of a "welcoming" interior that expands on the gradual change away from the hospital- and industrial-style design of galley and toilet fittings pioneered recently by Airbus and Boeing with the A340-500/600 and 717, 767-400 and 777, respectively. "We are looking for cultural universals, and a welcoming interior is critical for us," says Brauer. "Today's travel experience is uncertain, and in kind of a mess - and it is definitely outside my customer's control," he adds. Having suffered the usually traumatic experience during the journey from home to the departure gate, Brauer says that on entering the 7E7, "the passengers will feel that they can sever their relationship from the TSA [Transport Security Administration] and the rest of the outside world on the ground".
On entering the aircraft, as simulated at the Door 2 area in the mock-up, the passenger is greeted by an entirely different cross-aisle area. "We can't change the small dark tunnel feeling of the jetway, so we have to 'go big' with the cross-aisle," says Brauer. Instead of the conventional low cabin ceiling paneling, the area is open with a lofted ceiling or "sky dome". Back-lit from behind a transparent cover, this creates the illusion of a much higher ceiling, similar to the artificial interior skies in vast new Las Vegas hotels such as The Venetian.
According to Brauer, the planned composite construction of the fuselage makes it possible to have higher ceilings in specific areas such as over the entrance cross-aisle zone. Unlike previous aircraft, which have a semi-fixed secondary support structure running forward and aft to support ceiling panels, stowage bins, environmental control system (ECS) and passenger service units (PSU), the new interior will be attached directly to the monocoque via pre-drilled holes. Systems will run fore and aft via two main channels, while major pipes and ECS ducts will still attach in the conventional way to fuselage frames.
Bin design is a step beyond the 777, with enough overhead storage space for one large carry-on per passenger in economy. "That was a first, and it was a big moment when we came up with that," he says. The side overhead bins are deeply recessed into the sidewalls providing what Boeing describes as a "complementary curve".
Another innovation of the cabin is the use of sculpted composite arches to "divide the cabin into well-proportioned spaces", says Brauer. The feature was one of several to fall out of extensive research with focus groups in a wide range of international and domestic locations including Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo.
The interior initiative was aimed at "figuring out what was dreadful about the passenger experience", and was launched two-and-a-half years ago as part of the Sonic Cruiser design effort.
"We didn't learn anything different for a Mach 0.98 aircraft as we did for a Mach 0.85 aircraft, so in a manner of speaking we're two-and-a-half years down the road. So if it seems more mature than you would expect, that's why," he adds, pointing to a large model of the Sonic Cruiser that stands in the centre as a reminder of the 7E7's technology heritage.
In their current configuration, the arches rise from main deck level and taper to a constant width to span the cross-section between lower ceiling height sections holding the overhead passenger bins and PSUs. Main deck fixtures such as lavatories are "lapped up" to the arches rather than being attached to a sidewall in the conventional way. This negates the need for troublesome foam seals and gives more flexibility to the interior design, making it infinitely adaptable, says Brauer.
Upgradability
"Normally when you move a fixture the secondary support structure belongs to it. The way it attaches with this method means that if it goes out of style it doesn't matter. It will be the most upgradeable aircraft out there, which is good for residual value - it will never be stuck in the desert," he adds. The lavatories themselves are also being redesigned, with possible "half-lavatory" stand-up urinals for male passengers, creating the possibility of "his" and "hers" lavatories.
The arches will probably be installed forward of Doors 2 or 3, with the forward units "probably permanent, and the aft ones temporary," Brauer says. The arches adapt the cabin architecture to match 30º cone of vision of the human eye, and just as importantly from the engineer's perspective, provide a valuable channel for systems. By providing convenient angles between the cabin sides around the main deck entrance doors and the cross-aisle, the arches also provide space for "need assist" cabin staff, he adds
Another surprise is the three-two-three economy seating layout option. "We are getting a good reaction to the wider outboard and narrower centre section," says Brauer, adding that Boeing has patented the layout. Airbus is fighting the legality of the move that Boeing claims can be protected on the basis that it is non-intuitive and that no "prior art" of the configuration exists. According to Boeing's research, the much argued-about centre-seat location is psychologically less onerous in a side cabin location compared to the dreaded centre-cabin spot. With its 5.4m (17.7ft) cross-section cabin at the 1.27m height level, Boeing claims it will be able to provide 0.47m-wide seats in a nine-abreast layout against 43cm-wide seats in a similarly configured A330.
The present cabin design is the finalist from around 15 other configurations. Although other possibilities are "still perking", Brauer says the current design is looking good for the 2008 entry-into-service target date. "There's no question we can do this one. We understand it, and the customer reaction has been great. It is a design that should pass the test of time." But of course, only time will tell.
Source: Flight International
