Systems & instruments

Windshield rain protection provides the flight crew with a clear vision through the aircraft windshield when rain is encountered. The «  Rainboe «  rain repellent fluid, originally used on Airbus aircraft in addition to the basic windshield wiper system, has been phased out as part of the worldwide effort to protect the Ozone layer. While Airbus has been actively working on alternative solutions, it has also published a well illustrated brochure to provide the operators a choice of environmentally friendly rain repellent fluid or windshield hydrophobic coating. This combines maximum windshield rain protection with safe guards for the environment.

This Manual is published by Goodyear and it will help you get maximum service life from your aircraft tires.

This briefing provides a review and discussion of the following aspects, highlighting the lessons learned from incidents / accidents (particularly during approach-and-landing): Barometric-altimeter reference (QNH or QFE), use of different units for altitude measurement and reading, Radio-altimeter callouts, and Low-OAT operation.

High frequency (HF) radio is perhaps the oldest form of airborne radio communications. HF transceivers can provide an entire world of communications, options and challenges...

A set of guidelines or ''Golden Rules'' for the operation of automated systems can help crew members to remain fully aware of the status of the aircraft and its sophisticated systems ''ready to react'' should an unexpected or critical event arise.

Tire bursting incidents occur regularly.The Concorde accident raised the greatest concern. This Airbus document reviews the different tire technologies lead to different bursting behaviors.Airbus recommendations are numerous and helpful for safe day to day operations.

The idea to taxi aircraft without the main engine thrust is not recent. When Aerospatiale’s (one of Airbus’ founder partners) design office provided its conclusions on a study for “motorized wheels for autonomous taxiing for a 76 tonnes subsonic aircraft” back in 1977, the technology and oil prices were not at today’s high level, making this idea a “must” to offer. As part of Airbus’ commitment to continuously improve its products and develop environmental-friendly solutions, Airbus’ Research and Technology program has revisited this case with various solutions in the recent years.

The onboard Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) was developed to prevent mid-air collision, particularly in case Air Traffic Controller guidance is incorrect. This Airbus document is an excelent TCAS summary for Airbus pilots (and also for the others...)

This Airbus technical memo has been published short time after the crash of an American Airline A300-600 on takeoff from New-York

This document is a very interesting technical explanation of the potential fuel vapor ignition in case of a specific combination of several factors. This brochure has been released 2 years after the TWA 747 inflight explosion.

This Airbus Flight Operations Briefing Note provides an overview of:

The aim of this Briefing Note is to provide additional information about weather radar capabilities and limitations, in order to improve the flight crew's overall understanding of the system, and to help prevent such incidents from occurring.

The term ''optimum use of automation'' used in this Airbus document refers to the integrated and coordinated use of the following systems:

In recent years, there have been a number of flights where passengers or crew suffered injuries due to severe turbulence. In some other instances, the aircraft structure was substantially damaged following a hailstorm encounter. Clearly adverse weather can pose a threat to the safe and comfortable completion of a flight, thus it needs to be detected and avoided in a timely manner.

This briefing provides an overview of the scope and use of normal checklists, and the factors and conditions that may affect the normal flow and completion of normal checklists.

This manual is designed as a guide to the procedures to be used for all aspects of aircraft tire care and operation. It provides detailed information about how to operate aircraft tires to achieve optimum service. It also covers installation, removal and servicing techniques. It should be used in conjunction with the operating procedures given by the aircraft and wheel manufacturers.

This is a second article dealing with Electromagnetic Interference from portable electronic devices. Operators of commercial airplanes have reported numerous cases of portable electronic devices affecting airplane systems during flight. These devices, including laptop and palmtop computers, audio players/recorders, electronic games, cell phones, compact-disc players, electronic toys, and laser pointers, have been suspected of causing such anomalous events as autopilot disconnects, erratic flight deck indications, airplanes turning off course, and uncommanded turns. Boeing has recommended that devices suspected of causing these anomalies be turned off during critical stages of flight (takeoff and landing).

Airbus provides an Update of in-flight PTU logic for Single Aisle Aircraft.

Modern commercial jet airplanes provide smooth, comfortable travel that typically is free of vibration.

The digital Head Up Display is also available for Airbus aircraft...

All airplanes equipped with instrument landing systems are vulnerable to capturing erroneous glideslope signals. Boeing, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration are working together to improve awareness and prevent such errors. Flight crews can help manage the risk by understanding the problem and performing glideslope confidence checks.

The MMEL and the MEL are both designed to ensure that an acceptable level of safety is respected, when an aircraft is dispatched with inoperative equipment. The MEL enables Operators to rapidly dispatch an aircraft, and avoid unnecessary delays or flight cancellations, without sacrificing safety. Both the MMEL and the MEL are legal documents that are either approved or accepted by Airworthiness Authorities. The MMEL and the MEL consist of component and system lists that are attributed a ''GO'', ''GO IF'', or ''NO GO'' status, depending on their impact on the safety of a flight.

In-flight fuel imbalance occurs when the quantity of fuel between the fuel tanks in the left and right wings is unequal. A fuel imbalance can occur for many reasons, including acceptable variations in the performance of fuel system components, variations in engine fuel burn characteristics, faults in internal fuel system components, or fuel system or structural faults that cause fuel to leak overboard. Operators can avoid unnecessary dispatch delays and maintenance work by understanding the causes of in-flight fuel imbalance, proper fuel management, fuel imbalance indication, and airplane dispatch procedures following the display of fuel imbalance indications.

Modern large transport aircraft have an increasing amount of automation and crews are placing greater reliance on this automation. Consequently, there is a risk that flight crew no longer have the necessary skills to react appropriately to either failures in automation, programming errors or a loss of situational awareness. Dependence on automatics could lead to crews accepting what the aircraft was doing without proper monitoring. Crews of highly automated aircraft might lose their manual flying skills, and there is a risk of crews responding inappropriately to failures. This preliminary report is intended to provide clarification of areas of concern.

Reventable accidents and incidents related to erroneous flight instrument information continue to occur despite improvements in system reliability, redundancy, and technology. In particular, modern flight instruments provide more information to the flight crew with greater precision. Flight crews seldom are confronted with instrument problems; however, when these problems do occur, their rarity can make the situation worse. To overcome the potential problems associated with infrequent failures, flight crews should be aware of the piloting techniques summarized in this article, follow the guidance described in operations and training manuals, and comply with airline training when facing a flight instrument anomaly.

Simple needle, ball, and airspeed flight information has been replaced by aural, visual, and tactile warnings incorporated into modern flight decks to alert flight crews when certain airplane parameters are exceeded. However, to prevent airplane accidents or incidents, flight crews need to know how to react properly when they encounter contradictory flight deck information or lose a significant amount of this information because of instrument failure.

A good study of the electromagnetic interferences caused by portable electronic devices (laptops, PDAs, Electronic games, cell phones, etc.)

This Boeing document discusses engineering aspects of a modern commercial jet airliner environmental control system (ECS), focusing on cabin air quality. News media coverage suggests that aircraft cabin air quality is a serious concern. However, an objective review of pertinent data and comprehensive testing do not support this perception.

This manual includes general maintenance and servicing procedures applicable to aircraft tyres which Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Limited (DATL) make and supply.

Operators with international routes are exposed to different standards in terms of:

Operators sometimes report cases of aircraft infestation by rodents such as mice and rats, and reptiles such as snakes and lizards, causing discomfort and alarm amongst passengers and crew, but also potentially considerable damage to the aircraft. Their presence in an aircraft can lead in extreme cases to the aircraft being grounded, especially when electrical wiring damage has been discovered. This Airbus document explains how fumigation works.

Typical flight control events for all Airbus series.

This brochure describes the various differences between each member of the A340 Family: The A340-200/300/500/600.

This familiarisation is targeted for aircraft equipped with Honeywell weather radar. The fundamental principles are, however, applicable to all weather radars in all aircraft.

Inadequate monitoring of the flight instruments and misuse of the Boeing 777’s autoflight system led to a collision with a seawall at San Francisco, USA.