New Technologies in Aerospace

Supersonic Cruise

The Aerospace industry is an exciting industry that is constantly changing and is constantly using cutting edge technology to push the boundaries of our imaginations of what is possible. Besides the 'green' movement that I've previously talked about, a lot of aerospace companies are looking at efficient supersonic cruise as the future of the industry. One of the frustrating things about air travel is the time it takes for transatlantic flights, supersonic cruise would shorten the time it takes considerably by cruising at speeds of around mach 2 (typical comercial flights fly around mach 0.8). If you're interested in aerospace you've probably heard of the Concorde, which was a comercial supersonic jet that flew in the 70's till 2003. However the Concorde was retired due to noise issues (sonic boom created at supersonic speeds) as well as poor fuel consumption and small capacity which lead to very high ticket prices.

while working at Gulfstream I got to learn about one of the ways they are tackling the noise problem of supersonic flight. Since the FAA requires a certain noise level in decibels at take-off/landing as well as fly by in order to land at airports in more populous areas, it is crucial for future supersonic cruise aircraft to be quiet. One of the technologies that Gulfstream was developing in conjunction with NASA is the Quiet Spike. The Quiet Spike is basically a big, retractable spike that sticks off the nose of the aircraft (as shown) which causes 3 shock waves to develop on the spike that travel parallel to each other as supersonic speeds are approached. This creates a smaller, more quiet boom as opposed to the loud boom that occurs from shock waves forming on the nose and wings of a typical supersonic aircraft.

Avionics and Fly-by-Wire

As the rest of the world has become more and more computer centered the same has happened in the aerospace industry. One of the coolest projects I had the opportunity to work on at Gulfstream was preforming usablility testing on the G650 iPod Cabin Management System application. Basically the Gulfstream Cabin Management System (GCMS) provides the passenger with digital control of cabin systems through touch screens, capacitive touch switches and Passenger Control Units. Using an iPod touch that is synched to a particular seat on the aircraft, passengers can control the lighting, temperature, speakers, monitors, entertainment equipment, window shades, CabinView system and call the flight attendant. What I was responsible was for running tests on the system, needless to say I had a good time 'testing' the technology in my office (pictured left), a 60 million dollar business jet. The GCMS is just one example of how aerospace companies are implementing more advanced technology into their fleet.

Another project I got to work on at Gulfstream was the implementation of touch screen controllers (TSC's) in the cockpit to replace the traditional manual instruments and switches. What this project entailed was preforming pilot testing of the TSC's in simulated flights to insure that the touch screens could still be operated effectively in various conditions such as turbulence. Pictured is the cockpit of a Gulstream G650, as you can tell there a quite a few screens and even more overhead that you can't see. In the future we will start to see more and more companies implementing more and more advanced technology into the cockpits of their aircraft.

One last big change that we will see in future aircraft is the use of fly by wire (FBW) systems to control the aircraft. FBW is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with electronic controls. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals and transmitted by wires to control the actuators at each control surface. This is different than the manual controls where the flight controls are physically connected to each control surface. One of the main advantages of FBW is that the Flight Control Computer (FCC) can automatically adjust to the flight condition and help stabilize the aircraft without the input of the pilot. This is a huge technological advancement for the aerospace industry that increases the safety of the aircraft. Companies such as Gulfstream and Boeing have already started implementing FBW systems into their new aircraft.