An elevated, sky-colored ceiling? Recessed LED lighting?
Is this an airplane or a disco lounge? And does this mean that bell bottoms jeans and say … promiscuity … are no longer frowned upon in polite society?
Actually, that’s the interior of the new Boeing 787 “Dreamliner,” which will be built and assembled in North Charleston, S.C. beginning in 2012 – if everything goes according to plan (which it almost never does in South Carolina).
You know, given its reporters’ phallic fawning over Boeing, we figured this is the sort of story that the Charleston Post and Courier (a.k.a. Boeing Incorporated Magazine) would have gotten a heads-up on.
But no, it looks like Wired got the scoop …
In fact, here is Wired‘s description of just one of the Dreamliner’s many interior lighting features …
Instead of flicking the lights on and flooding the cabin in light, the cabin will brighten slowly, with the light transitioning from the purples and oranges of a sunrise to yellows, and eventually white against a blue sky. Boeing’s thought is mimicking the light schedule of your destination, some of the dreaded jet lag can be alleviated …
Oh, get this … the plane can also react to turbulence (say that last part in a Sean Connery voice and it sounds really, really cool) …
Sensors throughout the airplane detect subtle changes in air pressure indicative of turbulence and direct the fly-by-wire flight controls to move flaperons on the wings to counter the vertical motion. It won’t eliminate all the bumps, but Boeing says it will work especially well on the moderate turbulence that causes most airsickness.
Good grief … is this airplane going to give us a “happy ending,” too?
Praised for its innovative carbon fiber fuselage (and resulting fuel efficiency), the Dreamliner’s outsides have been all the rage – particularly with airline bean counters. Only recently have people begun to pay attention to what’s inside the shiny, elongated tubes.
The Dreamliner’s interior also features bigger windows, more storage space and more legroom – although airlines could negate those latter two attributes depending on the seating configuration they choose.
Anyway, the Dreamliner completed its maiden test flight two weeks ago – a “mere” two years behind schedule. Assuming it passes Federal Aviation Administration muster, the plane will make its maiden commercial flight sometime in late 2010.
Pic: Wired
