for the industry,” Rahmes said. “Having better weather forecasting information to improve flight efficiency and reduce fuel use—that helps everyone in our industry.” Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program, launched in 2011, is designed to speed up the process of testing and refining new technologies to improve aviation’s environmental performance. The program’s first test flights were conducted in 2012. That year, the program used an American Airlines 737-800 as its flying laboratory, or test bed, to evaluate 15 technologies. One of them, natural laminar flow technology, was later incorporated into the 737 MAX Advanced Technology Winglet design to further enhance the airplane’s fuel efficiency. This year the ecoDemonstrator program has doubled in size, testing technologies from software that will provide pilots with improved weather and route information to hardware designed to lower weight, save fuel and reduce airplane noise heard on the ground. The program’s 787 began early test flights in July, but the majority of the testing will take place this fall. “The ecoDemonstrator program picks up the pace of development, and that helps engineers get excited about technology development,” said David Akiyama, ecoDemonstrator program manager. The 787 ecoDemonstrator flights will help evaluate such innovations as advanced navigation landing systems, enhanced aerodynamics, and airplane parts made from recycled materials such as carbon fiber. Additionally, the ecoDemonstrator teams are working toward a paperless flight deck, potentially eliminating the 40 to 50 pounds (18 to 23 kilograms) of charts and paperwork that pilots bring on board, by testing mobile devices such as tablets on the PHOTO: Jim Underbrink, of Boeing Test & Evaluation Instrumentation & Data Systems, uses a calibration device to determine sensitivity on a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS, microphone that was tested as part of the ecoDemonstrator program. 18 Frontiers September 2014
Frontiers September 2014 Issue
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