A preview of what future AgustaWestland helicopter cockpits will look like was seen in the AW149 mockup exhibited at the Paris Airshow last June. The new cockpit approach promises to reduce costs, both in the development phase and in the life cycles of aircraft. The higher degree of cockpit commonality among AgustaWestland models promises to save money on pilot training and enhance fleet flexibility.
The common cockpit concept is built around NVG-compatible ten- by eight-inch flat-panel displays that host all required flight data on the primary flight display (PFD), leaving the multifunction flight display (MFD) free for additional aircraft information or mission-related data.
AgustaWestland’s aim is to design a full glass cockpit that will eliminate the need for auxiliary panels such as those prevalent today. The common cockpit is an open-architecture system based on the new AFDX communication bus used on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787, which provides a data rate of 100 mbps.
