Have your say in flight crew rest design...

[TomLloyd]

Hi all,

I am an engineer tasked with coming up with a new flight crew rest concept. I was after some ideas and sugestions from the people who use them.

Been in any FCRCs with a good/bad feature?

What's the Worst/Best you have seen?

What would you add if you could?

All suggestions and comments welcome.

[michaeljpotter]

Increase the humidity in the CRC's. Please...its deathly dry on the T7 CRC

[mustafagander]

I think that IFALPA has a pretty good basic design from which to work for your specific aircraft.

[beerdrinker]

Ask the Lufthansa crews. I believe that they had/have the best Flight Crew Rest area on the 747-400. Behind the dooor leading to the Cockpit is an area for the two bunks, two reclining seats and a mini galley.

BD

[halas]

Tell the customer airline there is only one option.

The airline l work for has decided that flight deck and cabin crew can share the CRC at the upper aft of the fuselage on the 777.
You couldn't be further away from the flight deck if you chose.
Also the Boeing design gives the flight deck crew in the combined CRC the shallowest bunks in the whole group of bunks. They are raised a foot above the others with the same head clearance.
The 380 may even be worse being a "box" in the middle of the economy cabin.

halas

[grounded27]

Best I have seen is in the 744F, they really are 2 bedrooms with separate doors. It is hard to sleep in a coffin with another person (eg: MD-11 module).

[stilton]

Quiet, dark, no air blowing over you. Away from galleys and other f/a produced noise. Individual light and air vent.

[nitpicker330]

77W OCR was pretty damn good in CX.

The only complaint was the air cond noise above your pillow and the fact the 777 is very dry on long haul flights.

[NSEU]

Have a crew rest heater which is easily accessible by maintenance engineers, not buried behind sidewall panels (taking hours to replace instead of minutes). i.e. four normal short phillips screws in an access panel, not 40 long ones.

Also, make it checkable on the ground without having to simulate airmode (another hour on some aircraft)

[Squawk-7600]

I am an engineer tasked with coming up with a new flight crew rest concept. I was after some ideas and sugestions from the people who use them.

Tom, with all due respect that's rather a "how long is a piece of string" question. It would depend greatly on how much space you had available and the anticipated flight durations. As a fellow engineer you know that it's all a compromise and it would be nice to say we would like a lounge, jacuzzi, space to entertain guests ... but it ain't gunna happen However some aircraft are more space constrained than others and that will significantly affect what you're able to incorporate.

As echoed by other pilots here I think the basic "must haves" are; quiet, dark, and ability to regulate temperature. Like any "good engineer" I'd suggest turning to established designs for ... err "inspiration" Of the aircraft I've flown, I'd say the Airbus A330 crew rest is definitely one of the better I've used. Some features to note in addition to the above must haves are; comfortable seat, long lie flat bed that folds down easily, cupboard for bag storage, entertainment system, phone, and good reading lights.

Major changes I'd make post 9/11 would be to have it on the flight deck side of the door if possible, and if the aircraft size allowed, dedicated flight crew toilet. In other words when flying with a heavy crew they never have any need to go past the flight deck door at any stage of the flight. I haven't been keeping up with the requirements in this area, but last thing I heard this was being mooted as a requirement for security purposes in future designs. No idea if that has become anything beyond a rumour, and perhaps you could advise? It would definitely earn bonus points with regard security even if not a regulatory requirement.

Hope that helps and good luck with it. I've done my fair share of ultra-longhaul and sure would appreciate good design effort in this area!