Flightdeck Noise

[Jason2000]

Hello,

A question to all you commercial pilots - Which flightdeck is the most quiet to work in? Does the design of Airbus front ends, in terms of their outer shape, tend to be better or worse than the equivalent Boeing aircraft?

I'm particularly interested in the larger aircraft such as the Airbus A330/A340 and the Boeing 767 and 777.

The reason being I'm the fuselage designer for our Aero Eng degree final year group project and need a little input. The aircraft fuselage so far is in liking to a 767 in terms of diameter and an A340-300 in terms of length (it's a sonic cruiser M0.95 aircraft).

Cheers, and Happy New Year

Jason

[john_tullamarine]

.. then consider putting the motors down the back .. a la DC9 etc ..

[Rabbit]

Forgetting the older types in my past, from personal experience comparing modern B777, A320 & A340, the A340 has the queitest cockpit and cabin by far. WHY? For that you will have to ask someone else :confused:

Have a nice day :)

[Notso Fantastic]

Is it the slowest? I thought the quietest I've known was the 737, but that was a slow cruiser and that was the reason. The 747 is quite noisy, but its speed and curvature of the fuselage above the Flight Deck probably accounts for that, and the roof hatch, even though lightly 'insulated', is a big noise generator. I was amazed how quiet the MD8x was in the forward cabin. Having the engines down the back must make an enormous difference- the 737 cabin was laughable in comparison. What was my biggest surprise was the HS748- whispers past externally- it must have focused all its noise onto the Flight Deck-a real headache machine!

[Jason2000]

Thanks for the replies. Cannot position the engines at the back for a number of reasons, so they are on the wings. Basically I can either have a longish nose section, with a large fineness ratio or a short stubby thing like a 767. The aerodynamics of the nose section is governed by the fineness ratio, which I have already fixed. I just need to know what shape up front to use, since flying at 544kts EAS will probably be quite noisy.

Cheers

J

[northwing]

In my experiece all old pilots are a bit deaf, especially to the particular frequencies of the aircraft they have flown a lot of hours in. The only real answer is noise reduction headsets which amplify the ambient noise in antiphase and thus cancel it out. This saves the pilots' hearing, reduces fatigue and gives them a better chance of hearing ATCO Annie. They are expensive but can be blackmailed out of any sensible employer by pointing out that they are a lot cheaper than the legal consequences of occupational hearing damage.

[Notso Fantastic]

Have you examined the Comet? If ever there was an aerodynamic nose profile, that must have been 'it'. I expect the drag and noise to have been lower on that than any other passenger jet. An amazing design dating back to the 40s- such a shame materials technology was still so primitive.

[Human Factor]

Possibly the type of engines are an issue. On the 777, I find the RR powered aircraft have a quieter flight deck than those with the GE90.