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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0077.PDF
and second-generation "synoptics" (the Efis display of aircraft systems pages with fault warnings and corrective actions) and they didn't want a "clockwork" 747-400. The 747 was not a clean sheet of paper, and the airlines were aware that maximum change of a derivative can mean maximum cost. But the digital 747-400 which has emerged is a remarkably efficient renewal of a 20-year-old basic design. The 747 pilots who have seen the cockpit mockup at Seattle are delighted. The 747 cockpit has always felt crowded and busy; now it seems roomier (and the aerodynamic noise should be lessened by heavier sound proofing). The 747-400 is too different to step straight into and fly, but the difference is not too great to impair the easy transition which pilots have generally made from round dials to glass screens. With "user friendly" Efis, pilots learn quickly to change scan and cues. Usually their only question is "how did I manage before?" The 747-400 cockpit has 365 lights and gauges and switches compared with 971 in current 747s—22 fewer than in 757/767. So Boeing's response is a two-pilot cockpit with all primary flight and engine and systems information displayed on six big glass screens. These are inter changeable ("pin-selectable") units for any one of four basic displays: flight, navi gation, engine, and systems. Each pilot's two screens are side by side, not one above the other as in the 757/767. The left screen is the primary flight FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 16 January 1988 Above far left The 737-400 flight and nav screens are like the 747-400's (above centre) but smaller and one above the other. Above right a fortnight to rollout. Below The big Boeing has a wider-look cabin, much bigger bins, and firehard plastics display (PFD) of horizon and attitude—as on the 757/767 Eadi (electronic attitude director indicator) but plus airspeed, alti tude, and climb/descent speed, displayed as vertical tapes, Airbus style. At the bottom of the screen is heading, displayed as an arc rather than as a horizontal tape European style. Navigation: to the right of the PFD is the ND (navigation display) or map. It is like the 757/767 "Ehsi" (electronic hori zontal situation indicatorj but larger and with its aircraft symbol moveable to the middle so that the pilot can "look behind" when going around or performing the tight manoeuvres sometimes required by air traffic control. New 757s and 767s also have this and it is offered on the 747-400. Four-colour weather radar pictures can be superimposed on the ND and the display has four modes: approach, VOR, map, and flight plan, with full compass rose or enlarged quadrant. Metric conversions can be displayed at the touch of a selector, useful in the metric altitudes of the Soviet Union and China. If the PFD fails, it can be immediately called up on the ND; the other pilot's ND screen, of course, remains. Should all the flight and map screens fail, basic electro mechanical airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and compass instruments are provided (though these could go, given a further standby electrical power supply). Boeing has plans for a new safety- enhancing ND mode or even separate screen: a graph of altitude versus range, to be called vertical profile display. Engine and systems: The two middle screens, one above the other, are common. As in the 757/767, they are called Eicas (engine indication and crew alerting system). Primary engine data such as fan speed, thrust, and jet temperatures and pressures are displayed on the upper screen. Some customers prefer round-dial format, as in the 757/767, and Boeing offers this as an option. The standard format is vertical tape, with its more 23
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