NASA, Lockheed Martin X-Plane Will Have eXternal Vision System Instead of Forward-Facing Window Written 30 July 2020

Aviation International News reports that “in addition to testing sound signatures of new supersonic airplanes, NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) experimental demonstrator is breaking ground in another area: flight without a forward-facing window.” Instead of a forward-facing window, the NASA and Lockheed Martin X-plane will come equipped with an eXternal Vision System (XVS). The XVS technology “already has been tested in NASA’s Beechcraft King Air UC-12B in preparation for the X-59’s first flight in 2021.” XVS “uses real-time imagery from two externally mounted cameras that are overlayed with terrain data on a 4K monitor in front of the pilot, NASA said.” The monitor “enables pilots to safely ‘see’ traffic in the flight path and provides other visual aids for approach, landing, and takeoff.” NASA “said XVS is one of the technologies to ensure the X-59 shape reduces the sonic boom and ‘may represent the future architecture of supersonic commercial passenger and cargo aircraft.’”
Full Story (Aviation International News)