The Connected Cockpit

The Connected Cockpit
brief – fly – debrief
www.beafanofefan.com
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New cockpit technology for
general aviation electric aircraft
The Connected Cockpit concept from Airbus Group Innovations – the Airbus Group Corporate
Technical Office’s research and technology organisation – has evolved in parallel with its
development of new-generation electric aircraft that are intended for pilot training and general
aviation. This concept brings together the advances in “glass cockpit” instrument technology with
new methods of displaying processed, easily-interpreted information for pilots – incorporating the
management of an e-aircraft’s electrical energy by taking into account flight conditions, including:
> The management and awareness of the energy state
> The flight training lesson
> Combined with the actual flight conditions
The Connected Cockpit concept benefits from Airbus Group’s extensive work in human-machine
interface, ergonomics and automated flight technologies.
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Planning the upcoming flight in detail
on the computer
A key innovation of the Connected Cockpit concept is the use of a plug-in computer tablet as the
instrument panel’s right-hand display. This tablet serves as the Navigation and Training Display,
providing information that supplements the aircraft’s fixed left-hand Primary Flight Display (PFD).
When removed from the cockpit, the computer tablet serves as a highly interactive training
device that enables a pilot to plan the upcoming flight in detail.
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Synchronisation of the electronic
instruments
Once installed in the aircraft, the tablet provides strategic information on the planned flight path
and/or training lesson, and is easily reprogrammable in response to changing conditions.
The status of available electrical energy is displayed along the e-aircraft’s planned flight path,
as well as for alternates in the event of in-flight re-routing.
Based on the Connected Cockpit concept’s “plug and play” aspect, the tablet is automatically
synchronised with the cockpit’s Primary Flight Display after being plugged in, with data
seamlessly shared between these two electronic instruments.
Primary Flight Display (fixed)
Navigation and Training Display (plug-in computer tablet)
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Information displayed on the
Navigation and Training Display
> Energy management: Shown as a constantly-updated horizontal chart, the total energy
display takes into account the aircraft’s speed, altitude and its electrical energy reserves.
> Flight training: Various scenarios can be planned, executed and analysed – from flight
planning and navigation to non-standard situations.
> En-route flight management: Sequential visualisation assists the pilot’s management of
the flight path, along with route planning and re-routing.
Supplementing this information is the visualisation of relevant checklists, shown on the Primary
Flight Display, along with changes based on the phase of flight.
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Simple and comprehensive debrief
After landing, the removable tablet is used to review the flight details with an instructor –
allowing for an in-depth debriefing.
Information from the tablet is easily uploaded into the flight school’s own system for its records,
accounting and future training purposes. The data also is available for use in the pilot’s logbook
and for review after being stored in a personal computer.
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Pioneering the next generation of
electric- and hybrid-powered aircraft
Airbus Group and its partners are reshaping the future of air transportation with their work on new
aircraft using electric and hybrid power – offering the promise of significantly improved fuel economy
and marked reductions in both emissions and noise.
The first realisation is the E-Fan technology demonstrator, which will be followed by two production
versions: the fully-electric E-Fan 2.0 two-seat trainer version powered only by batteries; and the
four-seat E-Fan 4.0 training and general aviation aircraft, with its on-board electrical energy
supplemented by a combustion engine that recharges the batteries in extending the flight range and
endurance.
Airbus Group’s longer-term studies are focussed on hybrid propulsion concept studies for a full-scale
helicopter, and the application of distributed propulsion system architecture for a regional airliner.
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Airbus Group | TEAM BD | 05/15 | EN | © Airbus Group. All rights reserved.
Airbus Group
Corporate Technical Office
81663 Munich
Germany
12 rue Pasteur
92152 Suresnes Cedex
France