Flying today is
tiresome and troubling with most aircraft old 20-40 year aircraft with outdated
aircraft, old seats, no electronics plugin, no television screens to entertain
people who don’t read on aircraft. Most airlines have been using airplanes
20-30 years old, and the seats are tiny for the larger person of today. My
flying experience this week reminded me of how old the current fleet of
aircraft is and expensive to fly for $600-$1000 with no meals, no plugin for
laptop, no wifi, no meals, no entertainment except on transatlantic, or cross
country flights.
In comparison of
the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737-900 the thrust on both airplanes are similar because
they both have the Pratt and Whitney CFM56 engines. The payload is 11,0000 lbs
more on the 737-900. But, the range is 5950 km for the Airbus versus 5080 km.
The baggage volume is 1592 cu ft for the 737 versus 1322 cu ft on the Airbus
a320.
When we examine the
avionics package, the Airbus A320 uses the Thales Avionics Suite and the
737-900 uses the Rockwell Collins avionics. The Thales avionics or Sextant
Avionique is a GE Honeywell powerhouse. It has the downside in is inability to
deliver note to tail solutions including engines, hydraulics, power systems,
and fuel systems. Thales has a highly integrated flight controls and navigation
systems. Thales, according to the website, “Using a multi-purpose cursor to
navigate between four interchangeable multi-functional displays, this T-shaped
flight deck greatly improves crew coordination and allows flexible access to
strategic information and databases, therefore eliminating cumbersome
paperwork.”
The system is equipped
with a full duplex switched Ethernet 802.3 technology. There are liquid crystal
display panels, heads up display, enhanced flight vision system, and integrated
electronic standby instrument. The use of air data and inertial reference unit (ADIRU)
incorporates high navigation performances, high reliability. This new system
incorporates high speed Etherenet A615A protocals and Galileo and GPS in-motion
and in-flight alignment.
Rockwell Collins
avionics suite incorporates a multiscan threat detection system, weather radar
system for analyzing thunderstorm cells. Rockwell Collins avionics suite has
the following to offer as from this spec on their website. “Rockwell Collins’ GLU-925 MMR enables
airlines and operators to take advantage of evolving Required Navigation
Performance (RNP)/Area Navigation (RNAV) and Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) capabilities. The GLU-925 fulfills the
requirements for aircraft navigation position source, Category III Instrument
Landing System (ILS), Category I Global Positioning Landing System (GLS),
accessing RNP/RNAV airspace (down to RNP Authorization Required 0.1), and meets
the GPS position and availability requirements for ADS-B Out mandates.”
Human factors
engineering and flight deck design or HFE have been an issue in the designing
of new aircraft for tomorrow. Physical size of people, fuel requirements, input
characteristics, information processing, output characteristics, and environmental
tolerances are all factors in human engineering.
There are products
for the flight deck, and cabin of aircraft that are carefully chosen based upon
pricing and functionality for the pilots, crew and passengers of the aircraft. Falcon
cabin electronics systems is all-digital electronics cabin system for superior
office and entertainment capabilities with FCMS for wireless laptop connectivity,
mp2, DVD/CD, moving maps and flight information, and satellite TV. I think the
Rockwell Collins for the passenger offers a superior method of making the
flying experience comfortable.
The commercial airline
industry loves to stuff as many people as possible into an airplane to maximize
profits. But, people don’t want to be treated as if they are cattle being
ferried around the country. Wider seats on the Airbus versus Boeing by 22”
versus “20” makes a big difference with larger Americans of today. Virgin
Galactic wants to have an environment whereby people on airplanes are
encouraged to get up and move around, because people need to get up every hour to
stretch their legs. Newer seat design for pelvic support is critical to
Americans with armrests 1 in. wider, going from 2” to 3”. It is upsetting when
two passengers have to fight over one armrest because the seat is too narrow
for the body and both arms. One major
problem is some companies are still manufacturing
their $40,000 4 person seats the same way they did in the 1960’s with toxic
chemicals and outdated FAA approved fabric still being made today, from
personal experience. The inefficiencies of many seat manufacturers have
impacted quality and comfort on airplanes.
Airlines need to
bring back meals on aircraft with such systems by BEA of dry steam ovens, and ovens
that can cook 162 meals simultaneously as illustrate in an article from Air
Transport World magazine. Passengers want to have more overhead luggage space
due to costs and limitations being imposed on more than one carry on luggage.
The cost of additional heavy luggage can add $100 or more to each piece of
luggage on long distance flights which is upsetting to passengers who pay
$600-$1200 or more just to fly on the aircraft.
Larger lavatories
are a major issue that upset passengers with rest rooms so small it is
impossible for larger people of today to even fit into these tiny rooms for
tiny people. New designs by Airbus and Boeing have been addressing this issue
so passengers, especially handicapped people can fly on aircraft and use all
the facilities on the airplane. Disabled passengers find it impossible to fly
on most commercial aircraft today due to the tight flying space on aircraft and
narrow aisles that will not accommodate wheelchairs.
Passengers and
pilots are increasing security on aircraft by improving cockpits security with
bullet proof windshields, using honeycomb titanium for bomb and bullet proof
doors and bulkheads. Kevlar materials for bullet-proof blankets and windows
made from Armortex acrylic windows will reduce damage from bullets from
terrorist activities.
Flying today
compared to 30 years has changed a great deal with new technology available,
new aircraft materials, and militarizing aspects of aircraft with anti-missile
chafts and flares to make an aircraft inside and out with adding comfort to
passengers in the form of roomy seats, more electronics, and state of the art
flight electronics for tomorrow. Boeing foresees over $220 Billion in potential
sales in new aircraft over the next 20 years which will be a boom to the
Aeronautical and Design engineering areas, which is great for Mechatronics and
Mechanical Design engineers for the future.
References:
Adair,
Dennis. 2002. Making civilian aircraft cockpits secure. Design Engineering, January 1, 14, and 16.
Aldersey-Williams, Hugh.
1987. Design with People in Mind. High Technology, July 1, 34.
Anonymous. Economy
cabin in focus as ultra-long-haul takes off. 2010. Flight International, May 25, 19.
http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/ (accessed June 28, 2010).
Bill
Cox. 2007. Aircraft Interiors: Lessons In Comfort. Plane and Pilot, April 1, 77-
Is cockpit design flawed? 2004. Industrial Engineer, December 1, 15
Julie
Meintel. 2004. AUTOMATION in the cockpit - HOW MUCH to use it &
WHEN to use it. Mobility Forum, May 1, 6-9
Nelms,
Douglas W. 1998. "Improving the tube." Air Transport World 35,
no. 3: 73. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center,
EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2010).
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