Boeing has made several changes to the 737-10 flight deck--some visible and some within the airplane's avionics.
New Switches For Nuisance Alerts
The most significant physical change is the addition of switches that pilots can use to disable nuisance stall-warning alerts. They are part of a package that adds a third source of angle of attack data to the airplane. The improvements will eventually find their way onto every 737 MAX.
Common 737 MAX Cockpit
Boeing worked to keep the 737 MAX flight deck common across all four variants.
Stick-shaker Stall Warning Updated
Before, pilots could not disable nuisance stall-warning alerts that make noise and vibrate the affected yoke without pulling a circuit breaker. The new switches alleviate this problem.
Larger Displays
One change on the entire 737 MAX family from older 737s is larger primary flight displays.
Water Tanks?
Among the fight test equipment onboard are water tanks. Moving water between them changes the airplane's center of gravity, which is part of any aircraft's flight-test regime.
Electronics Racks
Racks of test equipment are carried around throughout flight test programs, recording and measuring myriad parameters that engineers need to evaluate and validate their work.
Special Seats
Most test flights carry multiple flight-test engineers onboard. They monitor specific information in real time and, if necessary, change certain characteristics to help finish the tests.
Testing Is Temporary
While the flight test equipment fills the 737-10's cabin, it is installed so it can later be removed and the aircraft can be sold to a customer for use in revenue service.
Boeing brought the 737-10, or MAX 10, back to the Paris Air Show in 2023. The aircraft is one of three in flight testing for FAA certification.
