Wright Brothers “Wright Flyer” didn’t even have a cockpit when it first flew on 1903. Thus, it was all pilot responsibility to fly and navigate at the same time.
Aviation became more important and key technology during WWI and WWII where complexity of flying machines was increased to accomplish tough tasks. That means pilot workload increased significantly and they had to deal with more complex controllers and many analogue gauges on cockpits. Another evolution in cockpits arouse during late 1970’s with new digital or so-called “Glass Panel” instrumentation for flight crews. The use of the glass panels (similar to computer monitors) greatly simplified the appearance of the airplane instrumentation layout. Other significant development along the evolutionary road inside cockpits was in how the instrumentation and controls began to follow new rules for standardization. Similarly, the controls and instruments were also re-designed in favor of both comfort and safety, as the cockpits began to be laid out according the principles of ergonomic design.
In 2012, there were 9,5 million flights around world according to SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research). The number of flights is expected to increase at a rate of 5% per year to reach 14.4 million flights in 2035. This statistic alone shows the need for new flight management systems as well as new smart and simple cockpit technologies to support aviation sector which is a tactical and fundamental sector in modern society.
The next impact on future aircraft cockpits will be smarter, touch screen enabled and bigger displays or head-up displays with enhanced flight management systems.
ASELSAN has long term experience in aviation including display and flight management systems since 1990’s. ASELSAN is a key player to develop future aircraft cockpit technologies on various programs such as “Turkish Indigenous Helicopter Program” and “Turkish Regional Jet Program TRJet-628” by competing leading Civil and Military avionics suppliers on world.
This presentation will provide future aircraft cockpit technologies and enhanced flight management systems that will be developed for the next decade as well as ASELSAN’s perspective on those solutions.