7E7 Pilot Controls Break New Ground for Rockwell Collins
Boeing's selection last month of Rockwell Collins to build the pilot controls for the 7E7 Dreamliner has increased the electronics and communications manufacturer's potential earnings in the project to €2.83 billion ($3.5 billion) over the 20-plus-year life of the program, up from the €1.62 billion ($2 billion) in contracts announced in February.
Perhaps more significant for Rockwell Collins (Hall 4, Stand F13) is that the combined package for the 7E7 will represent the largest amount of forward-fit content "by far" the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, company has ever contributed to a commercial aircraft, according to a company spokesperson.
Key to being able to provide the pilot controls was Rockwell Collins' acquisition of Irvine, California-based Kaiser Electroprecision in 2000. Built by Kaiser, the pilot controls will include a stand, pitch control, lateral control and yaw control/brake assemblies, each to be developed using a modular approach for ease of installation and maintenance. The controls will also be designed to have the look and feel of Boeing 777 controls, part of Boeing's plan to have commonality between the 777 and 7E7 for mixed-fleet options. The 7E7 is slated for service entry in 2008 with launch customer All Nippon Airways.
More in tune with its heritage offerings, Rockwell Collins won contracts in February for the 7E7 head-up and head-down cockpit display systems, communication and surveillance systems and core network cabinet. The highly integrated surveillance gear will include terrain awareness warning systems, TCAS and WXR-2100 multi-scan weather radar, packaged together in an Integrated Surveillance System with common processor and display. Communications equipment will include VHF, HF and satellite communications radios. As a partner to Smiths Aerospace, Rockwell Collins is also on the hook to provide the Ethernet switches and related components that will make up the aircraft's common data network.
The 7E7 core network cabinet includes file servers, routers and avionics interfaces in a single cabinet, with growth slots for future options. The system is currently flying on various Lufthansa aircraft, supplying Internet access to the cabin through satellite links with Connexion by Boeing. With Connexion, passengers can use their own laptop computers or PDAs and connect to the Internet at speeds up to 20 Mb/sec through either Ethernet ports on the seats or through an onboard wireless local area network.
Rockwell Collins has a somewhat smaller role in the Airbus A380 program, being selected at last year's Paris Air Show as the standard supplier of communication and navigation gear aboard the new superjumbo. Its A380 equipment includes VHF-920 and HF-900 radios, VOR-900 and marker beacon receiver, DME-900 DME, ADF-900, and multi-mode receiver. Earlier, Airbus selected Rockwell Collins to provide the Avionics Full Duplex Ethernet (AFDX) switch, the first sole-source selection for the A380's avionics package. The AFDX switch provides the infrastructure to connect displays, radios and navigation sensors.
