aircraft auxilary electrical systems Flashcards

exam

1
Q

briefly explain the system of the colours used in the CWS

A

captions are red for important failure,

amber for cautionary failures and

green for advisory information

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2
Q

9 steps

explain how first line test is carried out on the CWS

A
  1. press test button
  2. checks all captions illumiminate
  3. check every filament is servicable
  4. ensure attention getters operate
  5. check cancel facility
  6. check audio warning operates
  7. check dimming switch
  8. release test button
  9. ensure all lights that should extinguish do
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3
Q

how is the pilot made aware of important aircraft system failures

A

red warning captions

accompanied by flashing attention getters

and an audio tone

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4
Q

list 5 different types of sensors used to detect system faults

A

pressure switch

micro switch

thermal switch

relay contacts

limit switch

firewire

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5
Q

describe the construction of the fire wire element

A

stainless steel tube surrounding an aluminium oxide sintered glass coating for the central electrode nickel chromium steel conductor

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6
Q

explain how the fire wire in No 1 engine is detected by the firewire and indicated to the pilot

A

a fire would cause the impedance of the fire wire to decrease,

this would increase the amplitude of the detector waveform relative to the reference waveform of the control unit,

causing a relay in the control unit to energised, sending a signal in the AMS

the AMS will cause a ENG BAY 1 FIRE caption to illuminate on the WCA and attention getters to flash on the MWL

the ENG 1 lamp and switch 1 lamp will also illuminate, and an audio tone will sound in pilots helmet

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7
Q

explain how the flotation circuits react when electrical power is applied and the MASS and flotation switches set to live and armed

A

power on causes flot armed relays to 1,2,3 and flot degrade relay to energise

PSU capacitors will charge up and green LEDs will illuminate

MASS and flot switches will allow man/auto operation of flot system

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8
Q

explain how the flot system is auto activated (even with the MASS set to safe)

A

the flot will activate when the PSU senses water for 2.5 secs

this will cause the flot bottles to be fired by the crossfire circuit and all flotation bags to be inflated

with the rear bags inflating 3 secs before fwd bags to prevent damage to fwd bags

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9
Q

explain the need for NVG lighting

A

used for tactical flying at night and to prevent pilots being blinded by internal lights

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10
Q

what is the difference between active and passive lights

A

active lights illuminate the legends on push buttons that show a change in status or selection

passive lights illuminate background labels, names and switches

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11
Q

explain how the pilots/co-pilots wipers can be operated in intermittent mode

fast

slow

A

w/s wipers switch set to both wiper rotary control switch selected to (intermittent, fast or slow) mode

wiper motor relays energise, contacts change over and feed AC power to w/s wiper motor

the ECU controls the speed of the wipers and intermittent setting

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12
Q

explain how ice and snow is detected by the ice and snow detection system (ISDS) and how the severity is displayed to the pilot

A

during iceing conditions air passes through the measuing head, forming ice on the bar

the rate at witch ice forms is measured by infra red sensors whose beam path becomes obstructed by ice forming

when an upper limit is reach, the bar is heated to melt off the ice and process is repeated

snow is detected using the same beams becoming temporarily obstructed

ice is indicated by the word ICE in yellow on the PFD

Yellow with box around the word ICE shows moderate build up

Red ICE with box shows severe icing

snow is shown in the same manner and if there is ice and snow together ICE/SNOW is indicated in the same boxes

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13
Q

using the diagram explain pitot anti icing system when pitot systems are switched on

A

the heater monitor units control the current flowing in each of the four heater circuits,

the heater elements have a positive temp coefficient and are self regulating

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14
Q

pitot anti icing when on the ground

A

the pitot strut heating is inhibited on the ground by the WOW relay which prevents possible overheating in still air

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15
Q

pitot anti ice when faults are detected and how are they displayed

A

the heater monitor units monitor the current flowing in each of the four heater circuits

if the current drops below pre-determined levels, failure signal are fed to the AMS

the fault is diplayed on the SMD WCA window

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16
Q

diagram

fully explain the operation of the undercarriage system and the indication from the time that the pilot selects undercarriage down and the aircraft landing

A

when the undercarriage control lever is selected down, the control valve down solenoid is energised and the hyds pressure is fed to remove the uplocks and lower the undercarriage

during transiton the red u/c indicators lights will illuminate

when the u/c is fully down and locked the down lock microswitch causes downlock relay contacts to change over to the lock position

green indicator light illuminate and hyds will be removed form the u/c system

when the aircraft is back on the ground, the WOW microswitch will change over and the u/c control solenoid will lock down

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17
Q

diagram

Expalin how the ECS keeps cockpit and cabin air temp controlled

A

master switch on ECS control panel selected on (auto pos) and the cockpit temp selected by the pilot using the temp control switch

the digital controller (14) controls the operation of the valves according to the pilots selection and inputs from temp sensors

the conditioned air from the cooling pack (7) is fed through the distribution ducting to the cockpit (12) the mission booth and rear cabin

hot air is mixed with the cool air by the temp control valve (8) according to the cockpit temp inlet and outlet sensors (10,11)

the temp selector is a manually controlled potentiometer, normally the setting will be within the AUTO selector and the cockpit temp will be kept at the selected datum

reversionary selection is available if a fault develops in the auto system allowing manual override

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18
Q

explain how the components purpose of the tail lock actuator and its indication flag

A

the tail lock actuator is used to lock and unlock the tail extension or extraction of the spade locks which extends into the tail lugs

extraction of the locks causes the ‘PIN OUT’ flag to show that spades are unlocked

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19
Q

explain the purpose of the tail fold actuator and its mechanical drive option and microswitch

A

tail fold actuator on the tail hinge is used to fold and spread the tail

a mechanical drive on the actuator body can be used in the event of an electrical failure

two microswitches (fitted on the upper part of the tail top hinge) are used to indicate to the FMU that the tail is fully folded or fully spread

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20
Q

briefly explain the ACSR

A

active control of structural response is a vibration reduction system

sensors are mounted at key locations on the airframe to monitor vibration and feed signals to an ACSR

ACSR causes the actuators within the gearbox struts to vibrate in opposition to the original vibration thereby cancelling the original vibration

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21
Q

diagram

state the occasions when a BIT test is carried out on the rotor break

A

BIT test is carried out whenever the test switch on the rotor break control panel is pressed and when the rotor brake handle is repositioned (selected from (off to on)

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22
Q

when the FAIL caption illuminates on the rotor brake control panel

A

if any of the rotor brake component are unservicable a FAIL caption will illuminate on the RBCP

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23
Q

when will an INHIBIT caption illuminate on the rotor break control panel

A

if any of the systems, engines or WOW interlocks are incorrect then an INHIBIT caption will illuminate on the RBCP

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24
Q

briefly describe 4 (of the possible 7) electrical sensors of fault switches fitted to the No 3 IHPS and how each fault or indication is displayed

A

oil pressure transducer and oil temp sensors, displayed on SMP and SPSD

displayed as a yellow caution caption on the WCA window;

hot oil (HYD HOT)

oil high level switch (HYD MAX)

oil low level switch (HYDS LOW)

oil alert level switch (HYDS ALT)

oil refil level switch (HYDS RF)

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25
Q

diagram

state the type of extingusher used and how it works to extingush the fire

A

halon 1301 an (BTM) bromotrifluromethane works to cool the engine compartment and remove oxygen

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26
Q

diagram

state how many fire bottle are fitted in the merlin and how they are allocated

A

4 bottles with a cross feed system linking the engines and bottles

bottle 1 + 3 feed to ENG 1 + 3

Bottle 2 + APU feed to ENG 2 + APU

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27
Q

diagram

explain the operation of the fire bottle circuit for No 1 and No3 engines if the inertia switch operates (include the effect of the Xfeed/manual switch)

A

if No1 crash switch operates, all crash relays will energise and after a short delay, their contacts change over to supply power to energise all normal relays and all crossfeed relays

if the xfeed/normal switch is normal, the normal cartridge fires in each fire bottle, if set to xfeed the xfeed cartridge fires in each fire bottle

when the pressure in the fire extinguisher bottles decrease, the low pressure switch operates causing the low pressure indicators to illuminate

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28
Q

explain how the purpose of egress lighting and where it is fitted

A

egress lights are strips fitted around the cockpit, cabin doors and release handles they will illuminate in the event of a crash or ditching to indicate the emergency exits

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29
Q

how is egress lighting powered and activated

A

powered by individual batteries

operated manually/automatically

by inertia switches

water activated switches

loss of power

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30
Q

diagram

(rotor ice protection unit)

describe how the heater matts are arranged

A

two sections an inner and an outer with 5 metallic heater elements embedded between layers of GRP

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31
Q

RIPU

explain how and why the power is fed to them in a controlled sequence

A

the RIPU feeds electrical power via a slip ring assembly to the same heater element of each main rotor blade simultaneously and in a cyclic sequence to each group of heaters to provide symmetrical ice shedding

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32
Q

diagram

explain the operation of the RIPU system when switched on and selected to auto

A

when RIPU is switched on, the master contactors are energised and the RIPU fans run up,

the system then performs a self test and if satisfactory puts system into standby

when temp below 0ºC the system automatically comes on, and power is applied by the controllers to the heater elements in the sequence according to the weather condition from the OATs

if the system goes above 0ºC the system will revert to standby

33
Q

explain the operation of the RIPU system when switched on and selected to manual

A

pressing the man/fail button on the ice protection panel

will cause the manual caption to illuminate and the controller will supply power to the main rotors in sequence determined by the OATs but there will be no off time between sequences

in both modes of operation the controller feeds a constant supply of power to the tail rotor

34
Q

RIPU when the test switch is operated

A

when the test switch is operated a full test is carried out, the rotor ice fail caption illuminates on the WCA window and fail lamp on the anti ice panel.

all lights are extingushed when a satisfactory test is complete

35
Q

diagram

explain how the undercarriage is prevented from retracting on the ground

A

the undercarriage control lever is locked in the down position by the WOW microswitchs when the aircraft is on the ground and by the use of ground lock safety pins

36
Q

how is the pilot made aware that the undercarriage is up when coming to land

A

if the aircraft is below 30 ft (RAD ALT) with landing gear retracted the CDS will display a LANDING GEAR caution caption and an audio warning wheels wheels will be heard by the pilot

37
Q

what lights are used to show the pilot and ground crew that the aircraft is safe to land

A

undercarriage panel and U/C repeater lights should be showing three greens.

lights illuminate don either side of the nose wheel to indicate to ground crew that the U/C is down and locked

38
Q

what facility is used if the undercarriage fails to extend by normal means and how is it operated

A

if the normal method fails, the emergency selector is pressed and rotated to the DOWN EMERGENCY position.

EMERG DOWN indicator will illuminate on the instrument panel repeater group

39
Q

diagram

Explain the switch selection options of the ECS switching panel

A

there are 3 AVCS and ACCS fans, fan selction is 1/2, 2/3 and 1/3 only two fans can be selected at one time air is drawn in through ACCS inlet and vent through the ACCS exhaust the third fan is available if either of the other two fail

AIR SWITCH has 3 pos RECIRC/AUTO/AMBT this controls the recirculated air

CREW FAN switch manual selection of the crew fan on/off

MASTER SWITCH has 3 pos marked ON/OFF/REV on is auto and REV is manual

TEMP SELECTOR is a manually controlled potentiometer, normally the setting will be within AUTO sector and cockpit, temp will be kept at datum

REV selection is available if a fault develops in the auto system allowing a manual override

40
Q

diagram

with reference to the blade fold system fully explain the purpose of the

rotor index actuator

A

this consist of a linear actuator which extends to engage with the main gearbox

rotary actuator motor which turns the main rotor head to align No1 main rotor blade (RED BLADE) 3 degrees to the left of the tail

41
Q

with reference to the blade fold system fully explain the purpose of the

blade fold actuator

A

blade fold actuators consist of a linear actuator which is used to insert and withdraw the blade lock pins

and a rotary actuator which is used to fold and spread the main rotor blades

42
Q

diagram

with reference to the blade fold system fully explain the purpose of the

main rotor head resolver

A

main rotor head resolver provides position info of the main rotor head to the FMU

43
Q

briefly explain the transmission vibration monitoring system (TVM) used in the transmission gearboxes

A

the TVM system consist of accelermoneters and azimuth sensors fitted on the transmission gearboxes which sense any vibration

vibration signal are fed to the VDAM in the AMMC if vibration exceeds a threshold limit, a caution caption will display on the WCA

44
Q

diagram

describe all indications displayed to the pilot relative to the position and condition of the rotor brake system

A

RBCP has a gated lever marked ON OFF PRK and displays the RTR BRK ON INHIBIT FAIL indications

RB system info is displayed on the left hand side window of the SMP

RB system faults and advice are displayed as caution captions and advisory captions on the WCA

45
Q

5 precautions when servicing fire wire

A

when a fire wire is disconmected protective caps must be fitted

elements found uncapped must be treated as contaminated

grease must be kept clear of the couplings

when reconnected, new copper crush washers must be fitted

all firewire couplimg must be correctly torque loaded

all bends must exceed 1” radius

bends must not commence less then half an inch from any clip or connection

replacement elements must be off the correct type

securing clips should be no more than half inches apart

an insulation test must be carried out for the minimum time to prevent polarisation of the fire wire element

46
Q

3 precations of the external aircraft lighting system

A

anti-coll lights can blind if too close

white anti-coll lights and ultra violet radiation can damage eyes at less than 2 mtrs

do not switch on anti-coll lights without the glass head fitted, as this provides complete protection from ulta violet

due to the height of the anti-coll lights ensure correct staging is used with raised guards

ensure power is removed from anti-coll lights due to the high power capacitor used, and wait 2 mins before working on them

steerable landing lights are powerful and damage to the filament can occure if operated facing downwards

steerable landing light is extremely hot ensure no combustable material is present when operating

47
Q

EA system when switched off

A

when the master switch is off, the engine select switch and the bleed valve select switch are all off, no heat is applied to the intake mats

the engine bleed valve will be energised close and no hot air is fed into the engine

48
Q

EA is switched on with manual control set

A

system on, all engine air-intake and bleed valves switch/indicators are set to on

when the master switch is set to the MAN position, the manual control relay will energise and the bleed valve will de-energise in the open position and will remain open continuously

the anti-ice control will monitor and control the electrical supply to the intake mats,

keeping the intake surfaces within the range of 60*C to 140*C

49
Q

explain operation of EA system when

auto control set

A

if engine ant-ice master switch is set to the auto position the AMS will control the DC supply fed to the anti-ice controller and bleed valves according to the outside temp

if outside temp drops below 6ºC the auto control relay will energise, causing the bleed valve control relay to energise, removing the supply to the bleed valve which opens to allow the hot air into the engine

50
Q

explain operation of EA system when

system is tested

A

the system can be tested by selecting the test switch to TEST this will cause A/ICE TEMP A/ICE HOT A/ICE HEAT captions to be displayed on the WCA window and the fail lamps to illuminate on the intake and bleed switches

all lights should extinguish after 5 sec any lights that remain on indicate a fault

51
Q

diagram

explain pilots andf co pilots wash bottle operation

A

when the windscreen is selected to fast or slow and the washer bottle relay will be energised

its contacts will be in position to allow DC power to the washer bottle pump,

then operated by pressing the pilot/co-pilots cyclic wash/wipe push switch

52
Q

diagram

explain the undercarriage test facility

A

selecting the test switch on the control panel green, red and yellow indicator lights should illuminate on the control panel repeater display

53
Q

explain the purpose of the ECS

A

environmental control system provides cockpit and cabin ventilation, cooling and heating consists

54
Q

briefly explain the six system of the ECS

A

instrument panel

radar cooling

avionics cabinet

mission console (displays and LRU’s)

active dipping sonar (if notfitted becomes troop cooling)

compartment conditioning (cooling and heating)

55
Q

how is the rotor brake selected, operated and powered

A

the rotor brake is selected by the control lever, electrically operated and hydraulically powered

56
Q

explain how operation of the rotor brake is normally prevented from operating in the air and in what emergency circumstances could this normal prevention be overridden

A

operation of the rotor brake when the aircraft is airborne is normally prevented by the WOW switched,

WOW override switch allows operation of the rotor brake if the aircraft is to ditch in water or if the WOW switch fails

57
Q

how many hydraulic pumps are fitted in a modern helicopter and explain how they are driven and what system they supply

A

there are 3 hyds pumps used to supply 3 hyds systems 1,2,3 they are driven by the main gearbox and the accessory gearbox

hyds systems 1,2 feed the flying controls and if one systems fails the other will continue to do the work

hyds system 3 normally feeds the aircraft system which are the rotor brake, sonar winch, rescur hoist, ACRS, decklock, nosewheel stearing, landing gear and brakes, but will crossfeed into systems 1 and 2 in emergency

58
Q

explain operation when pilot fires both extinguishers into No1 ECU

A

fire occures in No 1 ENG (1 FIRE) indication illuminates

if Xfeed/normal switch is normal, Normal 1 relay will energise and fire normal cartridge in No 1 engine fire extinguisher bottle

when the cartridge fires, it ruptures the frangible disc in the discharge outlet of the fire extinguisher bottle allowing the extinguishant to be released into the engine No 1 bay

when the pressure decreases the low pressure switch operates causing the low pressure indicator to illuminate

if fire is not extinguished by the normal system, the xfeed/normal switch is selected to xfeed. the same switch/indicator is pressed and energises the crossfeed relay,

the Xfeed cartridges (ENG 1) in No 3 engine fire extinguisher bottle and the contents of No 3 bottle is discharged into No 1 engine bay

when the pressure i No 3 fire extinguisher bottle decreases, the low pressure switch operates causing the low pressure indicator illuminate

59
Q

normal operation of windscreen de-icing

A

pilots/co-pilots w/s controllers energise w/s heating and overheat relays,

this feeds 3 phase AC power to w/s heater elements,

the normal sensors cycle heaters on at 24*C and off at 30*C by de-energising the relays at the temps keeping the w/s free of ice

60
Q

name and number the components of the blade fold system

A
  1. FMU
  2. bladefold control panel
  3. rotor index actuator
  4. swash plate actuator (FCPA)
  5. blade fold actuator x 5
  6. rotor head resolver
  7. tail lock actuator
  8. tail fold actuator
  9. pitch lock rotating actuators x 3
  10. pitch lock linear actuator x 3
61
Q

briefly explain the QDM system of the transmission system

A

QDM uses sensors inside the gearbox which constantly monitors the circulating oil in the gearbox for ferrous debris particles

the sensors retain any particles collected and feed detection signals to the AMS for data recording and will initiate a caution caption on the WCA window if a threshold limit is reached

62
Q

explain how supply failure to one PSU would affect the system

A

loss of power to a PSU due to broken wire or PSU means that the PSU could not initiate auto-op,

the fault would cause relay 1-2-3 to de-energise causing the flot degrade relay to de-energise and an earth loss would cause the ‘flot degrade’ caption to illuminate on WCA

manual operation is unnaffected by loss of PSU and remaining PSU’s would still fire manually

63
Q

summarise the test procedure carried out on the flotation circuits

A

disconnect all operating heads

fit test lamps to disconnected head

disconnect the submersion actuators

switch on 28 volts DC

switch ESSB to live

operate manual flot switch and check that all test lamps illuminate

carry out a no vaults checks

reconnect the submersion actuators

select ESSB to safe

remove the earthing caps and reconnect the operating heads

64
Q

explian the operation of the BLADE/FOLD/TAIL switch

A

selects operation of main blades only, tail only or both blades

65
Q

explain the FOLD/OFF/SPRD switch

A

selects operation of fold cycle or spread cycle

66
Q

explain purpose of the master switch

A

on off switch which feeds electrical power to the system

67
Q

fully explain the four indication/captions that illuminate on the blade fold control panel

A

the on light illuminate when master switch is pressed once, extinguishes when pressed a second time

secure light will illuminate when FMU has performed a 12 sec installation (after the master switch has been pressed) it will also illuminate after a fold or spread operation has been completed

fail light will illuminate when ever system develops a fault

68
Q

what is the construction of the pilots and co-pilots windscreen

A

laminated screen with metal-oxide film heater 3 temp sensors

windscreen heating is selected by switches on the w/s control interseat panel

69
Q

purpose of static discharge box

A

static discharge boxes are fitted in the system to prevent build up of static when w/s heating is off

70
Q

explain w/s operation if one of the normal sensors fails

A

if the normal sensors fail, the affected w/s will heat up to 50*C, the combined effect of the overheat sensors will cause the w/s to cycle on at 44*C and off at 50*C

71
Q

explain the w/s test facility

A

when the w/s test button is selected to A/B the w/s test relay is energised and contacts change over to test overheat sensor circuit A or B

during the test discrete logic signals are fed to the AMS

72
Q

describe the purpose of the rotor brake on a modern helicopter with automatic bladefold

A

stop rotors during normal engine shutdown or during an emergency, when parked with blades spread

used during automatic blade fold and spread cycles to allow positioning of the blades as required

73
Q

briefly describe the purpose of the hydraulic control panel

A

used to make switch selections and test change over valves and display system indication

74
Q

what is the purpose of the change over solenoid valve

A

allows the hydraulic system o be routed to thier correct system during normal operations and during faults

75
Q

electrical pump (AUX PUMP)

A

used during ground maintenance operations and to charge the accumulator

76
Q

purpose of the accumulator

A

provides emergency pressure for the rotor break, undercarriage and main wheel brakes

77
Q

fully explain the operation of the undercarriage system and the indication from the time the aircraft takes off and the undercarriage is fully retracted

A

3 green indicator light on the undercarriage control panel and repeater lights illuminate while on the ground and after take off to show wheels are down and locked

when airborne WOW switch activates to energise the undercarriage control handle solenoid and remove the control handle lock

when the undercarriage is selected up, (if stearing is centred) the control valve up solenoid will be energised and hydraulic pressure will be fed to remove the downlocks and retract the undercarriage

red light illuminate to show wheels in transition

when the undercarriage is up and locked the uplock microswitch will cause the uplock relay contacts to change over to lock in position

all green and red light will extinguish and hydraulics are removed from the undercarriage

78
Q

explain the operation of the ECS cooling pack, explain the operation of the air cycle cooling machine

A

hot high pressure bleed air from the engine compressor is fed through the PRSOV (1) and the FCSOV(6) to the primary heat exchanger (7b) which reduces the tempurature

the air is fed through the compressor (C) which raise the temperature and pressure of the air and feeds it to through the secondary heat exchanger (7c) where it is removed

the air is then used to drive the turbine (T) which release the energy of the air allowing it to expand and reduce it temperature. at this temp, moisture in the air is removed by water seperator (7e)

the turbine drives the compressor and the fan which are all on the same shaft. the fan draws external ambient air through the heat exchangers and vents it out. water collected by the water separator (7e) is injected into the heat exchanger to improve cooling efficiency