Boeing tester ny teknologi - Constant powersetting descent and approach

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Boeing Looks at New Technology on 787 ecoDemonstrator

Woodrow Bellamy III 

[Avionics Today 11-20-2014] Boeing's 787 ecoDemonstrator completed its first test flight this week. The airframe manufacturer is using the 787 ZA004 ecoDemonstrator to test more than 25 new technologies designed to improve airlines' gate-to-gate efficiency while reducing noise, fuel burn and emissions among other operational improvements. 

 

 

The Boeing 787 ecoDemonstrator is seen here taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle. Photo: Boeing.

 

The ecoDemonstrator program was first launched in 2011, when Boeing used an American Airlines Next-Generation 737 to test 15 different technologies that ultimately lead to a 1.8 percent fuel efficiency improvement on the 737 MAX. According to Jeannie Yu, director of environmental performance at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the ecoDemonstrator concept was conceived out of the company's product development division as a way to accelerate the preparation of new technology for aircraft implementation.

 

"In product development it was clear that there are a lot of technologies that have a lot of promise, but sometimes technology needs help getting ready to get into implementation and getting ready for service integration," Yu told Avionics Magazine. "What we found is, by using demonstration, we can get these technologies and products to market faster. So the ecoDemonstrator is about accelerating those environmentally progressive technologies and taking a handful of technologies that we think we can help by putting on a flight test platform so they get ready faster."

 

One of the most advanced technologies Boeing is testing this year on the 787 is NASA's Airborne Spacing for Terminal Arrival Routes (ASTAR), a concept developed by the agency to allow flight crews to make minor speed adjustments based on cues from an on-board system using ADS-B In/Out data. The technology would help pilots use optimized profile descent approaches during the landing phase of flight, instead of the common stair step approach that forces them to burn more fuel and use more engine thrust as they land.