It needs sun visors…If they can go all the way to the bottom of the windows and have the exterior facing surface reflective then they can double as sunscreens while parked.
Like this idea a lot. I’ve passed the info on to the cockpit structure designer…
Why overhead throttles? Sure, we all get used to throttle or trim knobs mounted above but I find it less comfortable than a lower, pedestal mounted set.
They’re just ‘conditioning’ levers. Three settings: Ground idle, flight idle and auto – at which point the main throttle comes into play.
Numerous cockpit lights, individually controlled, both ambient & spot…Oh, and forget incandescent bulbs. Use LEDs.
Absolutely. Although with all the terminal charts etc available on the main screens the intention is that you won’t really have to use paper maps. I do know there are always charts to write on, notes to take and other books to look at though, so lighting is being addressed.
Have you used finger lights?
A spot to stick approach plates/charts while in use so they can be seen without obstructing the displays or interfering with operating switches & buttons.
As above, we’re intending to have all charts on the main displays, so there isn’t a need to have others clipped to something. Are we being naïve?
Lots & lots & lots of storage space/bins/drawers for manuals, charts, paperwork and the like, jacket, pilot's flight bag (pilot's bag reachable from the seat), pen holders, place to put a cup that can capture spills. How much empty space is there in the central pedestal? Same question for those side pods.
Storage space? Hmmm, it’s a pretty tiny cockpit so I’m not sure how much room there will be for ‘stuff’ but I do appreciate pilots need storage. I’ll speak to the cockpit structure designer about using some of the space in the side pods…
Make CB panels grouped & mapped to represent the system(s).
CB’s will be controlled through the touchscreen, so of course will be grouped by system. Mapped to represent the systems will need some thought…
Make sure seats can move far enough rearwards so that feet can't reach the pedals. Good for when a pax. is in the other seat or you're the PNF or even just want to stretch for bit.
Nice thought, but I don’t think there’s room - I’m not entirely convinced the crew will be able to get in without climbing over the chairs at present! Max endurance is only about 3 hours, so hopefully not too onerous.
Don't agree with replacing rudder/anti-torque pedals with twistable grips. The input is still needed so why move the inceptor?
Save weight, and for most of the flight they’re not used - all roll commands have cross coupling performed by the Flight control system. We’ve actually decided to keep the pedals as it was felt a step too far on such an ‘odd’ aircraft as a tiltrotor. I can however see them being removed in the future, since the playstation generation manage perfectly well with a twist joystick…
Don't do what Garmin did with the terrain alert on their GNS430/530 kit. The bloody alert occludes the entire map requiring an input to remove even though the advisory box also has a warning too.
Good heads up.
It's a right pain in the bum. You can disable the terrain alert, but only after each avionic power on then it defaults back to enabled after each shutdown.
Safety reasons I suspect.
Use knobs where possible, not a keypad. Keypads are a pain while bouncing around through turbulence. At least a knob can be gripped for support while using it.
We’re basing our design on the Garmin G3000, and having seen several video’s the touchscreen does seem pretty easy to use due to the raised band round the display. Additionally there are knobs which can be used in place of the touchscreen should you prefer to, of it fail.
Don't use push-push selection for either-or functions. Use push-pull so the force applied acts as feedback.
Ah, more good advice!
Definitely a hard switch to select altimetry scale. Also while on about hard vs soft switches: A hard switch for any function that gets used a lot eg heading bug, nav. course and the like. Transponder codes too, in a way. having to drill through menus to bring up a transponder setting page isn't on.
Ok, I was considering a separate control for the IFF since I appreciate the code does change often.
Auto-altitude arm. Once I enter the next alt. in the panel, I shouldn't then have to arm the thing.
I planned on having the rotary to set the height, then press the knob to activate it (like my BMW sat nav). Text will be orange when not active, and green when active.
Fuel gauges that aren't in the pax. field of view. Or at least, aren't obvious.
Hmmm, they get displayed at the top of the centre panel along with the engine info. Maybe we should move this to the bottom of the display…
Shouldn't have to be said but all switches reachable from the captain's seat.
Naturally. Especially for single pilot ops! There really aren’t many switches anyway…
Make sure avionics databases can be upgraded using standard SD or USB memory devices. USB preferably due to ubiquity. I should be able to bring the memory device from my PC to the plane, plug it in and have the databases updated.
Absolutely how we’re doing it.
Monitoring data must be in an open format, not some closed binary requiring special software to access eg CSV plain text instead of M$ .XLS or similar. Just about anything can open or import a plain text file.
Interesting thought, I’ll pass that on.
Any hot battery buss courtesy lights should also have master switch near the exit so that they can all be switched off just prior to shutting the door after parking. Some the aircraft I fly have hot buss courtesy & cockpit light switches scattered through out the aircraft.
Yeah, I worked on the L1011, which has a ‘ground bus’ switch by the door which brings the lights & sockets on for cleaning crew.
Also any automatic courtesy light needs to have a selectable auto/off/on switch eg in baggage compartments. Sometimes I need or want to leave the door open without the light on, other times I don't want the light on at all.
Ok.
XM weather (or equivalent)! I consider it to be the biggest advance in weather safety since onboard Wx radar. US centric, I know but that's where I am now & satellite weather is truly wonderful.
Do you think it feasible to have the weather fed to the FMS such that it can reroute automatically around bad weather? We have a couple of guys working on that…
PS: An aux. audio IN jack please, with automatic muting. I have this nice little MP3 player that works really well in the aircraft I fly...
We have an icon for music on our touchscreen… ;o)
Great feedback, thank you.