Aviation Week & Space Technology - 3 November 2014

(Axel Boer) #1

ments, regrouped in the center of the
fl ight deck.
The downside of keeping the original
lower-fi delity AHRS is that the Citation
VII certification will not include one
of the most powerful features of typi-
cal 3-D synthetic vision, a flight-path
vector that shows where the aircraft’s
nose will physically intercept terrain,
runway or the
zero-pitch line.
The option will
be available on
aircraft with
higher-perfor-
mance iner-
tial systems,
though. Uni-
versal is using
a heading-cen-
tered synthetic
scene (points
where the nose points) rather than a
track-centered view. A track-centered
view tends to fi lter out turbulence or
yawing motion but develops an of set
between the view from the windscreen
and the synthetic view in crosswinds.
Eye appeal comes from the new
higher-resolution LED side-lit displays
that use a 3-arcsec terrain database to
render 3-D synthetic vision in the fore-
ground fading to lower resolution in the
background to mimic how the human
eye perceives a scene.
While Universal will sell an optional
reference-select panel for entering
headings, altitudes and speeds for the
autofl ight systems, Glunt notes that all
inputs can be made directly into In-
Sight’s new electronic control display
units (ECDU) in the central pedestal.
The ECDUs are mounted below a cur-
sor control device and above alpha-
numeric keypads, all three of which
are used for centralized control of the
displays and the FMS.
Icon-based menu navigation and
graphical fl ight planning are shown on
both the EFIS displays and the ECDUs.
Radio control is handled on the ECDU,
with InSight offering “suggested” fre-
quencies, depending on location and
phase of fl ight, an option Glunt says has
always provided him correct information
for frequencies needed at an airport.
Pushing the “Com 1” button on the left
bezel of the ECDU brings up a window
showing the suggested and preset fre-
quencies in a large type size that is more
legible to aging and fatigued eyes.
The low-profi le cursor control, a but-
ton the size of a U.S. quarter that re-


cesses the pedestal, is somewhat of an
anachronism for a modern cockpit—it
is stif and moves the cursor at relative-
ly slow speed—but it is appreciated by
pilots. Glunt, who came to Universal 18
months ago, says he did not like the de-
vice when fi rst introduced but is now “a
fan.” “It takes a little practice to become
adept with it, but given the other cursor
controls on the
market, this
one is surpris-
ingly function-
al,” he says.

Glunt used the cursor to click on map
items and restricted airspace zones in
the multifunction display (MFD) to
show how information about the point
comes up in a window. In that window,
approaches for an airport can be added
to the fl ight plan by hitting the “A” but-
ton to the left of the cursor. The “B” but-
ton to the right of the cursor puts the
cursor symbol in pan mode for large-
scale scrolling around the map.
Reida says the displays are built with
an adaptive collar to allow for dif erent
orientations and screen sizes. “We have
our eyes on 12-in. and 15-in. displays,” he
says, adding that the company is also
considering going back to 8.9-in. dis-
plays as an option. Glunt demonstrated

a wireless fl ight plan uplink to the FMS
from an iPad, a follow-on InSight option
that will include a small remote router
and will be of ered downstream of the
certifi cation.
Available initially will be high-res-
olution airport maps, which include
labeled runways, taxiways and build-
ings for more than 600 airports that
are shown in both ego- and exocentric
views on the primary flight display
(PFD) and multifunction displays. At
Orlando Executive, which is currently
not covered in the high-resolution da-
tabase, Glunt put the geo-referenced
airport diagram up on one MFD and
a 3-D exocentric view on the other to
show the relative location of the aircraft
to taxiways, a useful tool even though
the taxiways were not labeled. Runway
numbers are included, though, and a
large white number 7 came into view on
the PFD as we turned onto the runway.
The synthetic view of the runway was
somewhat choppy through the fl at turn
but not overly distracting.
During the fl ight, the PFD, which is
approximately conformal to the view
out the window, was split in 75/25 for-
mat to show sub-windows of moving-
map charts and traffic in the small
windows at the bottom. The system
has shading logic that creates a haze
layer in the sky that closely matched
the October sky over Florida at 20,000
ft. En route, Glunt showed options for
bringing weather and other services up
on the MFD using both the icons on the
displays or alternatively with the but-
tons on the ECDU.
Once heading back to Orlando Ex-
ecutive, he used the cursor control to
select the airport on the moving map
and load the Runway 7 area navigation
(RNAV)-GPS into the fl ight plan. Near-
ing the airport, I noted that the Cita-
tion VII’s InSight software load did not
include an extended runway centerline
option. However, the feature will be on
the certifi ed system to help pilots locate
the airport from farther out. Within a
couple miles of the airport, the graphi-
cal airport and main taxiways began to
appear on the PFD, along with the phys-
ical runway through the windscreen.
The virtual runway danced some-
what in yaw as some light turbulence
tossed the Citation, matching the view
through the windscreen but somewhat
amplifi ed. The synthetic view was su-
perb nonetheless and spot-on in align-
ment with the centerline to touchdown
and beyond. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 49


The InSight ECDUs on Universal’s
Citation VII test aircraft (inset)
feature screens with large type for
input clarity.

圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀


圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀

Free download pdf