Cockpit ergonomics of CAE 7000 series Simulator

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The Canadian manufacturer, CAE, presented an opportunity at its Montreal Facility to Flight International to showcase CAE's version of Boeing 787 aircraft. The simulator is configured as a Boeing 787 aircraft.
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These are some of the following details regarding the cockpit design:

  • The 6 flightdeck windows cover a combined area of 3.1m2 as compared to the Boeing 777's 2.5m2. This increases the visual range and area, the flight crew has for its surroundings. The increased area of vision will be helpful for ground movement during taxiing to the apron and runway.
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  • The 5 large multifunction displays provide 0.35m2 of display space, which is twice the size of the displays in the Boeing 777. These allow the pilots to monitor the systems without having trouble because the displays are large enough for normal viewing.
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  • The system displays can also show the electronic checklist. This move is helpful towards the concept of paperless cockpit.

  • An additional helpful feature is the vertical situation display. This improves the situational awareness by graphically presenting the aircraft altitude, its desired vertical track and also a line for profiling the surrounding terrain. The display will definitely help in reducing controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
  • Electronic flight bags are mounted on the side walls and this is another step towards the direction of an actual paperless cockpit.

  • At distances of less than 5 nautical miles the multifunction display's map will show an airport diagram, with reference to the aircraft itself, when it is on the ground. This exceptional capability will definitely improve the awareness of pilots with regards to their position during night and low visibility conditions.
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  • Another standard Boeing 787 equipment is the Rockwell Collins dual head-up displays (HUD), which use liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. The head-up displays have a 36 x 30o field of view. This feature enhances the safety of visual approaches because the pilot can fly the approach with their heads up.
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  • The Boeing 787 aircraft has the Improved Thrust Asymmetry Compensation System (ITACS). This system is part of the flight-control logic mainframe. When one engine fails, ITACS easily controls the rudder to keep balanced flight as asymmetric thrust levels vary. In order to keep the pilot situationally aware, the rudder pedals are back-driven to show rudder movement. In a single engine failure scenario, the Boeing 787's auto-throttle can be activated on the working engine, enabling automated speed management even during a finals approach.
References
1. Mike Gerzanic (6 September 2010) Simulated Dream. Flight International
2. Flightglobal pictures and videos retrieved from http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/08/26/346652/video.html

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