Screens to replace windows on S-512 supersonic jet

[Scubbie]

BBC News - Screens to replace windows on S-512 supersonic jet

A company building a supersonic jet says it plans to replace cabin windows with thin display screens embedded in the wall.
Cameras recording outside the aircraft will display pictures on the screens.

Spike Aerospace, which is designing the plane, says drag will be reduced by removing windows, which "cause significant challenges in designing and constructing an aircraft fuselage".

The S-512 supersonic jet is not expected to launch until 2018.

In a blog on its website the company said windows required additional structural support and added weight to the aircraft but these problems could be eliminated by using micro-cameras and flat displays.

Cruising speed
It plans to surround the aircraft with cameras and display the views on the cabin screens. Passengers will be able to dim the screens or change the images.

Dr Darren Ansell, an expert in space and aerospace engineering at the University of Central Lancashire, said that the experience for passengers of being in a plane without windows could be an unusual one.

"There will be no natural light - it will all be simulated - so it will be a bit like being in a tube. And how would it work from a safety perspective? If there was an accident how would you know which way the plane was facing, and where you had landed, when the cameras have failed?" he said.

Spike Aerospace is based in Boston in the US and is made up of a team of engineers who have experience of aircraft design and building.

In December, it announced plans for the S-512, which it claimed would be the world's first supersonic business jet.

Expected to cost $80m (£48m), the jet will carry 18 passengers and the company claims it will be able to fly from New York to London in three to four hours rather than the six to seven it currently takes.

It will have a cruising speed of Mach 1.6 and a maximum speed of Mach 1.8. In comparison, a Boeing 777-300 has a cruising speed of Mach 0.8.

Other firms are racing to develop similar supersonic jets, including Aerion and Gulfstream.

Comment: I wonder when they will remake the film Airplane for the new screens?



Perhaps they could screen footage of earlier flights which the Captain flew in...

[seawright]

Wonder if they could reduce drag still further by doing away with the cockpit windows?
From trying to steer a car in reverse only using a TV camera I think the flight crew would require 3D spectacles.
It should be possible though seeing as most of the training is done on flight simulators.

[Scubbie]

Actually that is a good idea.

With a suitable computer simulator plugged in, even when it is foggy they could safely land the plane.

Just got to work out how they are going to deal with things when the camera gets knocked out by electronics failure!

[FelixTCat]

Just got to work out how they are going to deal with things when the camera gets knocked out by electronics failure!

Another G&T usually does the trick!

[Scubbie]

That's alright for the Pilots. What about the passengers?

[seawright]

Just got to work out how they are going to deal with things when the camera gets knocked out by electronics failure!

Built in redundancy. Duplicate or even triplicate critical components, provide automatic changeover and warning of backup failure.

All large passenger jets use hydraulics to move control surfaces so even with current technology a hydraulic failure could prove catastrophic without the benefit of backup systems.

[seawright]

That's alright for the Pilots. What about the passengers?

Yea, that's not fair the cabin crew always remove the wine bottles when things start to get a bit bumpy.

[Isitme]

Expected to cost $80m (£48m), the jet will carry 18 passengers and the company claims it will be able to fly from New York to London in three to four hours rather than the six to seven it currently takes.

Didn't Concorde carry over 120 across the pond in about 3 hours? If the Yanks had built it, I am pretty sure it would still be flying.

[seawright]

I thought that Concorde took part in the 1969 trans-atlantic (TA) air race which was won by the RAF but apparently not as its first TA flight was in 1971.
One wonders whether the outcome may have been different if it had been fully operational. It certainly featured in the races publicity around that time.

I think it did initially carry 120 passengers but its seating capacity was reduced to permit more comfort for the passengers who paid a premium fare.
With the high price of fuel and the current environmental pressures I would be very surprised if a new civil supersonic (TA) aircraft of Concorde's size could be financially viable today.

[Isitme]

I think the Atlantic record, under 2 hours, is held by the SR-71, the Blackbird, but that was not a commercial flight, it was a top secret bomber.

It is hard to see how a plane that is only going to carry 18 passengers can be financial viable. The flight cost will be enormous.