Simviation Forums

No IFs, no ANDs, or BUTs.


The virtual cockpit display widens the pilot's field of vision


Airbus patents windowless cockpit that would increase pilots' field of view

If I were to get a job at Airbus maybe, JUST MAYBE, I could sneak one home part by part.

I'm not saying that I would now. Just thinking about a new job is all.

OldAirmail wrote:If I were to get a job at Airbus maybe, JUST MAYBE, I could sneak one home part by part.

I seem to recall that Johnny Cash tried that with a Cadillac...dont't think it worked in the end..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHniL8MyMM

Jan

I would trust a windowless Aeroplane cockpit, with a set of electronic computer monitor screens tucked away somewhere in the bowels of the fuselage, as much as I trust my house circuit breaker never to trip-out and put all my various appliances out of action....

..leaving me without a cup of tea, and no 'Tele!

I put that in the category of; "Not A Very Good Idea" leading to Total Blindness!

Electricity has an annoying habit of failing at the most inopportune moment... ...!

Paul.... ...!

Shades of Star Trek...shields up number 1...

Excellent read...thanks for posting that...

Power failure, or a bird strike to the camera, or even something as small as a bug could completely castrate the pilots ability to see anything. Although windows do have their problems, eliminating them makes a much larger one: what if? How much faith we put in electronics. Great idea for a simp it I guess, but seems a little out of line for a jet carrying hundreds of people. I had no idea that seeing outside through glass was such a large problem that we'd be discussing removing them. I'm an old fashioned guy, and I hope we never get to a place that has us so reliant upon technology that we can't let our airline pilots see through a plain glass window anymore. Cool, but scary.

Hmmm Windowless cockpit and camera lens. Isn't that how UAV pilots fly? I have no idea how UAV's operate or what their range is. I wonder if thunderstorms interfere with the transmissions?

Hawkeye

Very cool. I don't understand the nay sayaspect of " what if the camera view is obstructed?"

I would imagine the very same principles of instrument flight kicks in at that point. People get on planes everyday where the pilots have poor visibility conditions from one end of a flight to another. They rely on the aircraft instruments to get them into the skyand then back to the ground. The increasing complexity if autolsnd systems and instrumrntation makes looking out the window nothing more than a distraction for the pilots of tube liners.

So on the same argument, what happens if the insttuments fail? That doesn't seem to be a concern for most passengers. Embrace technology. It actually can help make our lives better.

...I rather suspect that most Pilots, both Private and Commercial, almost always take off and land their aircraft manually, keeping a very close look-out of their windows for any problems ahead.
Any problems, the flight is either aborted, or a go-around takes place.

Autopilot only taking over when safely in the cruise.

That's what I do...anyway!

Automation is OK in its correct/suitable place.... ...!

Paul.... ...!

Why not leave the pilot back at the airport and do it all on remote. Hell why not just let us fly it from home linked via our FSX. That's sarcasm by the way. BAD idea.

The argument is valid. I do embrace technology, hell, look at my signature. However, nobody's life is dependent on my PC. Not having a windscreen is a bad idea, whether in IMC conditions or not. Reason: pilots DO look out the window. All the time. ILS approach and IFR flying is very precise, yes. Verified the whole time by looking out the dang window. Very rarely, and only in VERY poor conditions can a pilot see NOTHING out the window. Even then, while on a textbook approach on instruments only, a pilot can still go around if one chooses to, for the reason of not being able to see the runway below minimums. If you don't understand why the "no glass" idea is a poor one, then you don't understand all of the history behind aviation. Many "tube liners" are equipped with Cat IIIB ILS "autoland" ability, and still may divert if the runway isn't visible at minimums. Putting blind faith in technology is dangerous at the very least. Having no "manual override" because there aren't any dang windows is a folley that will be blamed for crashes and huge losses of life when an accident happens. To save a few dollars in fuel efficiency by modifying the design without windscreens is a last-ditch effort imposed for shock value. If you want to save a few bucks, there are so many other ways. This is cool, yes, but only in theory. I fear for pilots and pax alike in a tube they can't see out of. Look up the Florida Everglades L-1011 crash. Nobody was looking out the window when the plane went down. Killed everyone. Not the best analogy, but had someone simply looked outside, they would have seen the ground approaching.

When I try out new scenery I switch off the weather.


But many times I'll crank up the clouds and weather just for the fun of getting to the right place in all of that muck.

Heck. When I wake up in the morning and find heavy fog outside I start up the computer just to fly in REAL on the ground weather.

Love it both ways.


Still, I want whatever they'll be using, for my flight sim.

Would make for an awesome sim pit. "One piece at a time".

I just hope that none of the pilots or passengers need every part for each flight.



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