New aeroplane designed in VR

A new aeroplane has been designed entirely in virtual reality

This week, on a Paris runway, the latest designs were on display—of aircraft, that is, rather than clothes. Sleek models, such as Gulfstream's G450 business jet, jostled for attention alongside the latest in plus-size aviation fashion, the curvaceous Airbus A380. But when it comes to attention to detail, this year's most exceptional debut was the Falcon 7X, which made its first public flight. Designed and built by Dassault, a French aviation company based in Paris, the 7X lays claim to being the first fly-by-wire business jet, as well as the first aircraft to be designed entirely in a virtual environment. This latter claim bears some dissection as it hardly comes as a surprise to learn that a new aeroplane was developed using computer-aided design, or that its various possible wing shapes had been simulated to predict airflow and performance before the craft had so much as a sniff at a wind-tunnel test.

The makers of the 7X, however, say that its digital design process went beyond anything that has been done before. Every aspect of the aircraft was modelled in three dimensions, as you would expect, but everything from construction to refuelling and maintenance was also included in the simulation. A single database was used to define the aircraft's design, including all 40,000 of its parts and 200,000 fasteners. This database was shared between workers at the 30 or so firms which contributed different parts of the plane. Before a single piece of metal was cut, everyone involved, from hydraulics specialists to electrical engineers, could walk around the plane in virtual reality and iron out conflicts over what went where. The design extended to the robots that would create the tools to fit the parts of the plane together, and to the aeroplane's maintenance in later years. Can a mechanic actually reach a particular component to replace it, and is it physically possible to turn the spanner? Nothing was left to chance.

As a result, the first plane to be constructed was perfect: there was no physical prototype. All the parts were manufactured and put together, and then the plane was flown—its first, private flight took place just over a month ago. This also means that the first plane off the production line will be identical to the 100th. In aviation, the first few dozen aircraft of a particular design are normally tweaked as unanticipated problems arise. In the past, for example, wires would turn out not to be in quite the right place and would have to be moved, says Olivier Villa of Dassault. Although the design phase took longer than expected, Dassault found that manufacturing time and tool costs were cut in half. These costs can account for 25% of the overall cost of a new aircraft, says Mr Villa.

Another benefit is that Dassault can produce customised versions of the 7X in three months rather than six. Snazzy software will let prospective buyers of the eight-passenger corporate jet walk around their chosen design before they buy. The 7X is already selling well, even though it costs an eye-watering $40m and is still over a year away from being certified to fly. Virtual reality may be removing the art from aeroplane design, but Jean-Paul Gaultier would surely be impressed.