(CDU) for FMS inputs in the center console, replaced in this
case by a QWERTY keyboard complemented by quick-access
keys, including direct-to, maps and checklists, as well as a
pan-and-zoom joystick. The quick-access keys are designed
to bring to the screen the information pilots most often need
with the push of one button, rather than “having to go heads-
down into the CDU to find a buried menu,” says Palmer. Keys
can bring up the map, FMS and checklists. For the radio and
transponder tuning and control, pilots can type a frequency
(no decimal point) or code into the keyboard, hit the “Qik
Tune” key, and the system will find the best fit for the en-
try—whether frequency or code—and present the choices
on the forward displays for the pilot to execute by touching
the screen or pushing an “execute” button. The keyboard
is bordered on each side by identical controllers to provide
control knobs for tabbing through the controllable elements
on the screen and modifying data values.
“If you need something in a hurry and you’re a pilot who
likes to touch controls,
you have the buttons,”
says Palmer, adding
that the buttons and
cursor control would
probably be the in-
put devices of choice
in heavy turbulence.
Originally cursor con-
trol was thought to be
favored over touch-
screen, says Palmer,
of pilot reactions to
the flight deck. “It
turned out to be the
opposite. Every time
we bring someone in
and they’re not sure
they’re going to use
the touch features,
they find themselves using it. It
is one reason we went back and
put in beveled edges around
the displays.”
The beveled edges, which extend out approximately 0.5
in., surround the exterior of the primary and multifunction
displays (PFD/MFD), giving the pilot an anchor point to sta-
bilize a hand for touchscreen control. I found the top ledge
particularly convenient for anchoring my hand to touch items
on the screen. To make changes, you push a finger into the
screen near a “hot spot” area and the applicable menus pop
up on-screen. Menus can be removed by clicking the “X” in
the corner, or waiting 8 sec. except for items related to the
FMS, where menus must be cleared by hand. Most areas
on the screen contain items that can be changed, except for
the attitude display. The primary flight display can be used
for a full synthetic-vision-system view overlaid by attitude
and performance data, or split so the right one-third of the
screen shows different pages, selected by drop-and-drag
menus from the “home” screen option on the PFD. On the
MFD, engine performance data are always shown on the left
side of the screen.
During our pre-flight, Palmer demonstrated how the FMS
interface is largely executed on two pages—a Plan and a Fly
page. On the plan page, he entered our destination, altitude,
fuel onboard, cargo and passenger weight, hit “execute” and
the plan was set in the computer. We dialed in the barometric
pressure using the legacy knobs at the base of the center ped-
estal, located with the traditional tilt and range controls for
weather radar. I would later set minimums for an instrument
approach into Rockford by pressing the altitude tape on my
PFD, and stepping down one level into a submenu to enter
the altitude. V-speeds or navigation sources can be entered
in the same way by pushing the appropriate areas on the
left side of the PFD. “You don’t have to have any knowledge
of displays,” says Palmer. “The menu gives you the options.”
Taxiing to the runway at Cedar Rapids, I put the PFD into
full-screen mode, noting the clarity of Fusion’s 3-arcsec terrain
database, which fades to a lower resolution at longer distances.
Fusion’s airport database for 3-D synthetic vision on the PFD
includes runways only; own-ship position on taxiways is shown
on the airport diagram, which can be a bit crowded with other
information. Evanschwartz says the next update of Fusion, in
2015, will include air-
port 2-D maps with
more zoom capability
to declutter complex
airports. This was
not a problem at Ce-
dar Rapids, and as we
taxied onto the run-
way the identifier on
the PFD showed “13,”
matching multiple
heading data sources.
Once airborne,
we used the origi-
nal equipment panel
on the glare shield
for managing pitch,
heading and speed
input for autoflight
modes. Touching a
waypoint or airport on the
moving map display brings
up menus that can be used for
information about the point, or to modify the flight plan, for
example, to add a holding pattern. One slight distraction for
me was trying to scroll on the map using the double-stack
controller rather than the joystick—a choice that caused the
knob to rotate and change the scale of the map. By touch-
ing on the Rockford airport on the screen, I could bring up
the airport diagram, or see and select any of the instrument
approaches. Touching the “feather” markings leading to run-
ways on a map will provide an option for loading an approach.
Palmer selected the Runway 7 instrument landing system
approach at Rockford and leveled at 3,000 ft. above a cloud
deck en route to the initial approach fix. Fusion-specific
features—a virtual dome over the arrival airport and an ex-
tended runway centerline with distance markers—made easy
the task of lining up for the approach, boosting situational
awareness. Once below the cloud deck, maintaining a 3 deg.
glideslope was simple using the flightpath vector and pitch
scale on the PFD. On short final, placing the flightpath vector
on the touchdown zone of the virtual runway ensured our
main gear would meet the concrete in the physical touch-
down zone, an assertion confirmed by the view from the
windscreen and the chirp of the tires. cAviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/NOVEMBER 3/10, 2014 51
Pilots change or configure PFD items in any of the high-
lighted areas, or “hot spots,” by touching the display or
via cursor control devices in the center pedestal.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