EADS Mako Cockpit Demonstrator Lets Pilots Help Design the Airplane

PARIS AIR SHOW 2001

	June 17	June 18	June 19	June 20

EADS Mako Cockpit Demonstrator
Lets Pilots Help Design the Airplane

Inflight Simulation

So advanced is the technology in the Mako cockpit design that EADS engineers believe a trainer version can actually use simulation while in flight.

Why would anybody want to do that?

A pilot could fly an "actual" mission with the cockpit and weapons displays showing simulated threats, targets and results, says Peter Hunkel, head of aircraft simulation and weapon system simulation at EADS military aircraft.

Mako's flight control laws could also simulate a different type of aircraft, so a student could fly a "live" mission in a "Eurofighter," he explained, all the while flying a far more cost-effective training aircraft.
In this way a "derated" Mako trainer could simulate a more capable light combat version. The result: better utilization and lower costs for an air force with a mixed fleet of Mako trainers and light combat versions.
EADS believes this concept will save many training hours in high performance combat aircraft "with a remarkable cost reduction as a result." -- J.M.

The latest major milestone on the way to launching the EADS Mako supersonic light combat aircraft within the next year will be unveiled here at the Paris Air Show.

The sophisticated cockpit demonstrator marks an advanced stage in the evolution of what is, after all, an all-digital fly-by-wire aircraft that can be defined in the computer in terms of design, performance and weapons systems.

"This is in fact our development cockpit," Claus Frey, senior manager of simulation at EADS Military Aircraft, told Show News. It is based on genuine flight control laws, and leans heavily on Eurofighter technology, he says.

The front cockpit allows pilots to "fly" the aircraft in different scenarios with cockpit displays portraying an accurate, real-time presentation of the flight and weapons systems at all times during a simulated mission. Head-up displays are projected on a screen in front.

And in what EADS claims is a first, the mission can be flown in virtual reality from the rear cockpit, too. The helmet-mounted "surround sound and vision" display is almost the equivalent of being in a "dome" simulator.

EADS believes that no one else has used virtual reality as a cockpit design tool.
Many pilots have "flown" the Mako and recommended preferences that have resulted in the cockpit demonstrator emerging in its present form, says Peter Hunkel, head of aircraft simulation and weapon system simulation at EADS military aircraft. Among them: pilots from the United Arab Emirates, who are instrumental in defining the technical and operating concepts for the Mako.

The EADS/UAE team was supported in constructing the cockpit demonstrator by BAE Systems North America, Goodrich Aerospace, Martin Baker, and Computing Devices Company.

EADS recently signed MoUs with a number of supplier companies such as Honeywell, MTU/Eurojet and GE Aircraft Engines (who will compete to provide the powerplant with their EJ200 and GE F404/414 engines). The Snecma M-88 is also being offered. More supplier MoUs are expected to be signed during the show.

Prototype development is scheduled to begin this year, with first flight in 2005.

By John Morris

Something for the Ladies

Mako may be the first light combat aircraft and advanced trainer designed from the outset for women pilots.
Human-machine interface studies at EADS have resulted in a cockpit with more capability to accommodate pilots of various shapes and sizes. In previous aircraft women have had to adapt to cockpits designed for the male form.

Other ergonomic features include a high throttle and sidestick position to prevent arm pain, hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS), and voice control.

Mako is optimized, according to Aloysius Rauen, president & CEO of EADS military aircraft, for advanced training/light fighter requirements, in-service support and price per copy. Fly-away price for the light combat version is targeted at $23 million to $25 million. -- J.M.


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