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NASA Unveils X-59

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  • Author

How would you guys feel about no cockpit window? Just cameras to rely on.

As long as there's plenty of redundancy I'd be okay with it.

 

One thing for sure, Martin, they won't be battery powered.

Noel

The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

Wow two in one day! A2A just released their Floating Jellyfish reconnaissance craft!

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15:00 He says they are going to fly if over cities in America and then wait to see if the citizens below agree that the sonic boom is quiet enough. Then he says they believe that they have greatly reduced pollution this plane makes at high altitude, at least on the drawing board. But nobody can be sure until its flown and measured.

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17:33 Pam Melroy promising how quiet it is "a mere whisper" and cuts flying time NY to LA in half!

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The Spirit of St. Louis had no forward facing windows

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  • Author
39 minutes ago, FBW737 said:

The Spirit of St. Louis had no forward facing windows

 

Oh yes, that's true. I recall he used a periscope out of the side windows.

 

  • Author
4 hours ago, birdguy said:

One thing for sure, Martin, they won't be battery powered.

Noel

 

😁 I don't think anybody knows much about the aircrafts electrical system, but I'd imagine the forward vision system is powered the same way any avionics system is. In this case, no doubt with lots of redundancy. 

This is just a prototype, but the technology is intended to be used in passenger aircraft. So a forward vision system that is extremely unlikely to fail is vital.

I'm wondering if, when we eventually see this minimal boom supersonic technology in passenger jets, if there will also be an advanced auto-land system in case the forward vision system fails. 

Edited by martin-w

By the time that technology sees the light light of day in real commercial use I guarantee there will no longer be human pilots on commercial airliner. The days of the human pilots in commercial aviation are extremely numbered.

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I would think the forward vision system would be on flat screen monitor similar to the way we fly our simulators today.  It would also have the glass cockpit screens on the monitor just like we do.  That seems logical to me.

Noel

The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

8 hours ago, Fielder said:

17:33 Pam Melroy promising how quiet it is "a mere whisper" and cuts flying time NY to LA in half!

She also said "a gentle plunk", if I heard her correctly, and NASA says the sound levels closest to those of the X-59 sonic thump were the car door slams recorded across the street and distant thunder". Anyway, definitely much better than a "boom".

You can see the location of the camera for the main display just above the canards. I wonder how they deal with bugsplats. Maybe there's a teeny tiny windshield wiper, like the Mercedes headlights used to have.

Dugald Walker

On 1/13/2024 at 8:50 AM, martin-w said:

How would you guys feel about no cockpit window? Just cameras to rely on.

I think cameras instead of windows are fine.  We have the technology so we should take advantage of it.

The only issue I see is that with only a forward vision camera the pilot would lose some situational awareness.  I understand that a pilot could rely solely on instruments to fly, but having side views would be helpful IMO.

Maybe the plane will incorporate side view cameras as well.

Dave

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  • Author
11 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

I think cameras instead of windows are fine.  We have the technology so we should take advantage of it.

The only issue I see is that with only a forward vision camera the pilot would lose some situational awareness.  I understand that a pilot could rely solely on instruments to fly, but having side views would be helpful IMO.

Maybe the plane will incorporate side view cameras as well.

Dave

 

I might be wrong, but I think it has side windows, Dave. Small ones, so as you say, not optimal situational awareness. 

48 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

I understand that a pilot could rely solely on instruments to fly, but having side views would be helpful IMO.

Maybe the plane will incorporate side view cameras as well.

 

35 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I might be wrong, but I think it has side windows, Dave. Small ones, so as you say, not optimal situational awareness. 

“I’ve continued to get more and more comfortable with the XVS through flight tests and our [X-59] flight simulators,” said Nils Larson, NASA X-59 test pilot.

Though an unlikely scenario, Larson said that “I can even land the airplane with the XVS turned off” by relying on his vision through the aircraft’s canopy, side windows, and data provided by the X-59’s avionics should the XVS malfunction. 

...even though the view through the side windows seems to be partly blocked by the canards:

Artist rendering of the eXternal Vision System (XVS)

Edited by dmwalker

Dugald Walker

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