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Designer: Jochen Backs, STUDIO BACKS, Mill Valley, California, United States
Manufacturer: Freewire Technology, Newark, California, United States

The NeXus flight deck on the Falcon 10X introduces new safety technologies unique in civil aviation. New navigation features also reduce fuel consumption and, therefore, CO2 emissions. It’s a very visual and tactile environment streamlined for safe and precise flying. It reduces pilot workload by, among other things, simplifying many manual and data-entry tasks and automating others. Pilots can therefore stay focused on the “big picture” of flight management.

The NeXus Smart Throttle (the first in civil aviation) is probably the best example of intelligent design simplification that enhances safety. One lever controls both engines, automating engine management tasks. For example, it automatically manages power for reduced-thrust takeoffs, during noise abatement procedures, while ensuring proper climb gradient.

And automatically manages an engine-out situation. Integration with the aircraft’s fly-by-wire system enables other new safety features. Most significant is an Automatic Recovery Mode (for use in a wake turbulence encounter, for example) when autopilot and Smart Throttle work in concert to return the aircraft to a safe attitude at a safe airspeed.

On very long flights, this comfortable, fatigue-reducing flight deck helps pilots perform better throughout the mission, especially at the destination when tasks can multiply quickly, weather may be poor, and pilots need to be alert.

One of the ways NeXus helps pilots is by allowing them to use a dual Head-Up Display (HUD) system as the primary means of pilot operation, another first in civil aviation. When using the HUD, pilots see not only their flight guidance cues but also the outside environment. This is true on clear, sunny days and in pitch-black conditions, thanks to Dassault’s Combined Vision System (CVS) FalconEye, a unique sensor package and global terrain database.

The terrain picture is helpful, but NeXus goes a step further, allowing them to configure their Primary Display Units (the screens presented in front of the pilots) as they consider what’s best for safety and situational awareness. Therefore, instead of conventional instruments, a pilot’s primary flight display might show a complex approach chart with the aircraft’s path geo-referenced on it for better situational awareness.

NeXus is a flight deck environment that keeps pilots sharp in all flight conditions. In the process, the 10X will be a joy to fly and a model for safety advances more broadly in the civil aviation industry.