Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [48]
Third-generation flight deck displays, 50 percent larger than those on a 777, were perfected in Boeing’s E-CAB 1 (engineering cab). Like other elements of the elaborate test setup, the E-CAB was more than just a simulator and could operate in two test modes: one with actual aircraft equipment and the other with flight control software. New flight deck features included an LCD tuning panel for several systems, including VHF/UHF radios, transponders, the enhanced ground proximity warning system, and the weather radar. Mark Wagner
“In the past, systems have kind of come along for the ride. We’ve never really made big functional improvements in systems over the past forty years. They’ve gotten better, but they’ve not made big leaps. This time we’ve looked around for revolutionary leaps.” The bottom line, added Sinnett, was “solely based on would it mean more economic energy extraction at cruise, where you spend most time? That’s how to dictate the architecture of the aircraft, because that’s how you become more efficient.”
Starting from scratch, the team turned its back on convention. “Typically we’d approach the aircraft from an ATA (Air Transport Association) chapter perspective (a traditional industry-adopted breakdown of the aircraft into component systems). But from a first-principles perspective we were able to set aside all our more typical prejudices,” he added.
The first clues to just how different this approach would be came in June 2003, when Boeing announced the 7E7 Systems Technology Team, which involved partnering with more than twenty international suppliers to develop technologies and design concepts for the new twinjet. The twist was that simply winning a place on the team did not automatically qualify the company for a place on the aircraft, and all would have to compete to become ongoing suppliers to the program.
“Just as we brought the world’s best materials and aircraft structures experts together to help evolve materials and aircraft structures technologies, we have assembled a team of systems experts to help us understand the possibilities and best choices for systems on the 7E7,” said Walt Gillette, vice president of engineering, manufacturing, and partner alignment for the 7E7 program.
The highly distributed electrical system feeds two electrical/electronics (E/E) bays, one forward in the traditional nose location and one aft in the wing root area, as well as a number of remote power distribution units (RPDU) for supporting the 787s large number of electrically based systems. The layout cuts weight by reducing the size of power feeders.
Members of the Systems Technology Team included ECE Zodiac, Messier-Bugatti, and Thales from France; Diehl and Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg from Germany; Teijin Seiki from Japan; FR-HiTemp, Smiths Aerospace (later part of General Electric), and BAE Systems from the United Kingdom; and Connexion by Boeing, Crane Aerospace, Fairchild Controls, Goodrich, General Dynamics, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Matsushita Avionics Systems, Moog, Parker Hannifin, Rockwell Collins, and Triumph Group from the United States.
The team was tasked with creating systems approaches that were “open and elegant.”
An open-systems approach would allow systems to stay in lockstep with the latest technological advances. “We expect to deliver 7E7s well into the 2030s and 2040s,” Gillette said. “The pace of technology improvements is increasing year after year. Anticipating the need to incorporate improvements, even if we don’t know specifically what they will be, means we design the airplane to be flexible