Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [57]
For the FBW system Honeywell chose the Green Hills Integrity-178B RTOS for the flight control system (FCS) modules, which were distributed among the four FCS electronic cabinets in each aircraft. Outputs from these flight control modules drove Honeywell actuator control electronics units. Moog provided actuation for the primary FCS as well as the control system for the spoilers and horizontal stabilizer. Every 787 would use thirty actuators and control electronics, as well as rotary actuation components for the GE-supplied high-lift system.
The control system was designed to provide vertical as well as lateral gust suppression, helping smooth the ride quality in turbulence. “The bottom line is the aircraft will move two feet up and down instead of six feet, and that will improve how you feel because motion like that is at the same frequencies that cause airsickness,” said Sinnett.
TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY FLIGHT DECK
The flight deck was configured with the largest flight displays ever developed, dual head-up displays (HUDs) and dual electronic flight bag displays (EFBs). Unlike in any previous commercial airliner, “all of these will be basic,” said Sinnett. “We just provide more display real estate for situational awareness, and behind that provide capability for even more of that situational awareness all of the time.”
Distinguished by much larger display screens than any previously used in commercial jetliners, the 787 flight deck sported five 12x9.1-inch screens with 546 square inches of display space, double that of the Boeing 777. Standard to all were dual head-up displays (HUDs) and dual electronic flight bags, both formerly option-only items. Electronic flight bags stored digital maps, charts, manuals, and other data, and could be adapted to provide moving ground maps for ground taxiing. Mark Wagner
In addition, key safety systems such as weather radar, terrain awareness warning (TAWS), and traffic collision avoidance (TCAS) were also made as “dual basic” to all aircraft. “So the airline never has to make a choice, and there’s always a hot spare,” Sinnett said. Boeing’s decision to standardize on these systems for safety and economy-of-scale reasons initially sparked controversy. “Some pilots like them, some don’t. Some chief executives think they’re just pilot’s toys, but we believe in our hearts the more awareness the pilot has, the better it is,” said Sinnett.
“We had tough cost targets and we thought long and hard about offering less than what we did. In the end we decided that as this approach basically doubles the size of the market, the unit cost drops and it becomes a more efficient way of managing options. Now everyone will have two HUDs, and it is just the way it will be.” Rockwell Collins provided the package, which included the HPC/HCU-2200 dual head-up-display system on the left and right sides of the flight deck.
The HUDs formed an adjunct to the Rockwell Collins–developed integrated surveillance system (ISS), which warned about turbulence and extreme weather as well as about potential collisions with other aircraft and high ground. At its heart was the WXR-2100 MultiScan weather radar. Housed in two identical cabinets for redundancy, the ISS also hosted the TCAS, Mode S transponders as well as the Honeywell-supplied TAWS. Green Hill’s Integrity-178B also was used on the “traffic module” element of the ISS. A PowerPC-based processor at the core of the system was backed up by a support ASIC for the “traffic” functionality of the TCAS.
The human “Mk 1” eyeball also got a chance to play a bigger part in the safety of the 787, which had far larger flight deck windows than the traditional narrow Boeing front and side direct-vision windows. Total flight deck window space for the 787 grew to 33.5 square feet, compared to 26.9 square