Navigational equipment.

Up- to- date aircraft possess a glass cockpit which is fitted with different navigational equipment and devices.

A GLASS COCKPIT is a cockpit with electronic instrument displays. While on conventional aircraft there were mechanic gauges for displaying information, glass cockpits have electronic displays which are monitored by FMS. It simplifies the work of the pilots, allows to focus only on necessary information. This enhanced technology eliminates the necessity of flight engineer and navigator.

One more innovation that reduces workload on the crew is A HEAD-UP DISPLAY. It is transparent display on the glass of the cockpit that depicts necessary information which allows pilots to keep the heads up and not to be distracted by looking at the instruments.

← Copilot's HUD of a C-130J

A FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM(FMS) is an advanced computer system that performs a great variety of in-flight tasks. It minimizes the workload on the flight crew and excludes the necessity to carry flight engineers or navigators. A primary function of it is in-flight management of the flight plan. The FMS makes use of different sensors to identify the position of the aircraft. The FMS guides the aircraft along the flight plan. The navigational data inserted into the FMS is usually updated every 28 hours. These include

√ Waypoints

√ Airways

√ Radio navigational aids including DME, VOR and NDB

√ Airports

√ Runways

√ Standard Instrument Departure ( SID)

√ Standard Terminal Arrival ( STAR)

√ Holding patterns

DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT (DME) is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance from aircraft to a land-based transponder by sending and receiving special impulses. The ground stations are typically co-located with VORs.

So, the DME system is composed of transmitter/receiver in the aircraft and a receiver/transmitter on the ground. They measure the distance in miles from aircraft to the RW threshold. It checks the distances from five different DME simultaneously in order to determine one position every 10 seconds.

VOR, omnidirectional radio range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a signal including the station's identifier, voice (if equipped), and navigation signal. The identifier is a morse code. The voice signal is usually station name, in-flight recorded advisories, or live flight service broadcasts. The navigation signal allows the airborne receiving equipment to determine a direction to the VOR station.

GPS-Global Positioning System, precise navigation system using signals received from a fleet of low-orbiting satellites, allows pilots to determine their position. The aircraft unit finds the signals from the two nearest satellites and notifies the crew about their latitude and longitude.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 915