At Farnborough International Airshow
2024 Boom Supersonic unveiled its flight deck for the Overture. The
company said it had ‘reinvented the cockpit’ with a design that centers
on pilots, with safety at the forefront. Simple Flying’s Managing Director, Joanna
Bailey, caught up with Boom at their chalet to take a look at the new flight deck and find
out what’s new and interesting about this design. Boom started to design the new flight
deck around two and a half years ago. The group was tasked with creating a cockpit that
promises to deliver on ergonomics and comfort, as well as improve situational awareness for
the crew, and while also integrating emerging technologies like automation. Naturally,
safety would be at the heart of any design. Designing a cockpit for Overture wasn’t easy. Like Concorde, it is narrow and pointed at
the end, meaning there is less real estate to play with than on traditional aircraft.
Pilot visibility can be an issue as well, so there were plenty of considerations
to be incorporated into the design. The first iterations were designed
using CAD (computer-aided design) and then transposed into VR for
pilots to evaluate the proposal. Pilots then had the opportunity to assess
whether the angles on displays were right, get a feel for how everything fit into the
cockpit, and get a sense of comfort levels. Once the VR designs were refined, Boom
started making mock-ups of the layout. By integrating Augmented Reality (AR)
into the plans, pilots could sit in a seat and visualize where controls would
be and how everything would fit together. From here, the company iterated
on things like seat height and position and the locations of critical components. Finally, a complete mockup, including
3D-printed components, was made, allowing pilots to experience the design hands-on. And so, by the time Farnborough
Airshow 2024 rolled around, Boom had integrated its final cockpit
design into a working simulator, which some of the Simple Flying
team had the pleasure of flying. First - a little background on
the Boom Overture’s cockpit. Boom announced in December 2023 that
the Honeywell Anthem integrated flight deck would form the basis of the Overture’s
avionics. At the time of making this video, the technology is not yet certified
by the FAA, but first flew in May 2023 on a Pilatus PC-12. Thus, the flight
deck is well on the path to approval. Boom has customized the flight deck
to some extent and added some other bits and pieces to create a unique and hopefully lovely flying experience. Some of the most
interesting features include the following: Large 17” touchscreens: Hundreds of
breakers and buttons found in a normal cockpit have been replaced with several huge
high-definition touchscreens. Every single function of the aircraft is available via the
software, although the company is retaining some physical controls for critical functions
including sidestick, throttle and landing gear. Active sidesticks: Boom went with
sidesticks after consultation with pilots, who agreed these were better for comfort in
flight. The two BAE sidesticks are active, meaning what happens on the left also happens
on the right, so there is no disagreement possible between pilot and co-pilot.
They also get feedback from the aircraft, so the pilots can actually ‘feel’
what’s happening to the plane. Augmented reality and autoland: Taking cues from
the success of the XB-1 prototype’s systems and flights, Overture pilots will use AR for takeoff
and landing. The augmented reality will give pilots excellent visibility outside and around the
aircraft, letting them see ‘through’ the walls of the plane. Pilots will also have the option to
use an autoland feature for safe touchdowns. This technology-first development process has produced what is a very
technology-first flight deck. Boom also says that Overtures will be able
to receive software updates over the air, theoretically making updating your supersonic
jet as simple as updating your iPhone. Augmented reality is making waves all
over the industry, but Boom will be the first to implement it as part of the
equipment list on a newly built aircraft. Overture pilots will use Universal
Avionics’ SkyLens II head-worn devices, which integrate views and signals from cameras and sensors all around the aircraft to
provide enhanced situational awareness. Most importantly for Boom, this way of providing
oversight of the outside world means there will be no need for a droop nose, as was necessary for
Concorde. This would have added huge complexities (and cost) to the project, but thanks to modern
technology, we have a more elegant solution. Blake Scholl, founder and CEO
of Boom Supersonic, stated: “Following XB-1’s successful
test flight, we’re accelerating. Overture features an all-new flight deck,
incorporating extensive pilot feedback, resulting in a flying experience that is
both innovative and instantly familiar.” At the Boom chalet, some of the Simple Flying team
got to experience landing the Overture at London Heathrow Airport . The Boom crew were running
a competition for pilots, evaluating success by the level of Gs at the point of touchdown. We
didn’t win, sadly, but put in a good showing! Abid Habib, a Journalist at Simple Flying
said that The cockpit interface is quite user-friendly, akin to that of the A350 cockpit. He notes that, since the Overture has decided
to utilize the sidestick rather than the yoke, it will be easier for Airbus pilots to
integrate into the Overture in the future. Feedback from our team and others flying
the sim was that it was very responsive, and the position was comfortable.
We spotted that Boom had some pretty cool pedals in development - although
they’re going to be a little smaller once finalized - which sport the
Boom logo embossed into the metal. Mike Bannister, former Chief Concorde
Pilot for British Airways was also at the show and tried landing Overture. This
is what he said in terms of feedback: “I’ve long believed that Overture is
the rightful successor to Concorde…after experiencing Overture’s flight deck, which is
incredibly well designed and delightful to fly, my excitement and enthusiasm for
this aircraft has only intensified.” There is also a lot of work taking place to bring
this supersonic passenger aircraft to market. This includes progress with Symphony,
the engine that will power Overture. In October 2023, the Symphony team successfully
completed the engine’s Conceptual Design Review. This paved the way for hardware rig tests, which
are now underway. Boom has also accelerated the development of a full-scale engine core,
which will be operational in late 2025. The other big somewhat recent update is
that Boom has completed the construction of its Overture Superfactory - which is
located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Announced as complete on June 17th, 2024, the first assembly line is planned to
produce 33 Overture supersonic aircraft annually. A planned second assembly line will
double aircraft production to 66 each year. The construction of the building was completed
in less than 17 months after breaking ground and so Boom is now focused on installing
tooling and operationalizing production. And so that’s a little bit about our experience
with the future flight deck of the Boom Overture and the latest progress with
this exciting new aircraft. Over the air updates, augmented reality,
and several large touchscreens all sound nice - but such technologies have
their respective issues. Are systems vulnerable to remote hacking? What
happens if a touchscreen fails? Well, we can only hope that Boom, its partners, and aviation regulators, have
thought these things through! But what do YOU think of the technology that has been integrated into this upcoming jet?
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