Flight Instruments Flashcards
Secondary engine indications are automatically displayed when one or more of these conditions are met.
The displays initially receive electrical power
A fuel control switch is moved to cutoff inflight
An engine fire switch is pulled inflight
A secondary engine parameter is exceeded
Engine N2 RPM is below idle inflight
Both inboard and the lower center display units are known as
Multifunction Display Units, or MFDs.
If an ND is displayed on one inboard display unit and on the lower display unit,
the pilot who does not have an ND on the inboard display unit controls
the lower center display unit.
If neither pilot has an ND on the inboard display unit, and the lower center
display unit has an ND, then
the left EFIS control panel controls it.
In the last scenario, both pilots have an ND on their inboard display unit and there is an ND on the lower center display unit.
The left EFIS control panel controls both
the left inboard and the lower center display units.
The NAV position displays the ND and also
inhibits selections made on the Display Select Panel for the left inboard display.
The EICAS position displays EICAS, blanks the upper center display unit, and allows only
the ENG, FUEL, and AIR functions on the Display Select Panel to be used.
In the event of an upper center display unit failure, the EICAS switches
In this situation, selecting EICAS to an inboard display unit now moves the
EICAS display there. The secondary engine instruments will appear
automatically to the lower center display unit.
on the lower center display unit provided no latched condition exists.
The lower center display retains normal MFD capability after this automatic reconfigure.
In event of an outboard display unit failure, the PFD will automatically appear on the
inboard display unit regardless of the inboard display selector position.
In normal operations, Display Processing Channel 1 controls
Display Processing Channel 2 controls
Channel 4 controls
Display Processing Channel 3 is
the left PFD and ND
the EICAS Display and lower MFD
the right PFD and ND.
used as a backup in the event of a channel failure.
In the event the system does not automatically reconfigure, the Display Control source switches,
located here on the Instrument Source Select Panels allow the crew to manually
select an alternate source of data for the Flight Displays.
The Display Control Switch selects an alternate display channel for the respective display unit pair.
A master brightness switch located here on the overhead panel simultaneously adjusts
the brightness on all displays and panel lighting.
The Cursor Control Devices (CCDs) are used by the crew to interface with
the aircraft’s communication system, electronic checklist and Electronic Flight Bag via the MFDs.
The CCD consists of:
a touch pad, cursor location switches,
cursor location lights, and a cursor select switch.
Each CCD has a unique cursor symbol. The left CCD controls this cursor. The right CCD controls this cursor. During initial airplane power up,
the left CCD is active as a default.
Each cursor location switch has a corresponding light, called a cursor location light that illuminates
to indicate the selected display unit.
The cursor select switch activates the area of the display being
highlighted by the touch pad cursor.
The standby airspeed indicator displays airspeed calculated from
two standby air data modules (one pitot and one static).
UTC information comes from the Aircraft Information Management System (AIMS), which is
automatically updated by the GPS satellites. In the UTC position, the clock cannot be manually adjusted.
The ADIRS provides primary, secondary, standby air data and inertial reference
information which are utilized to supply information to
the display units, Flight Management System, flight controls, and engine controls.
The ADIRU is the primary source for
flight data, inertial reference and air data.
The ADIRU uses ring laser gyros and accelerometers to measure aircraft movements
in all three axes.
The ADIRU switch located on the overhead panel, turns on the ADIRU.
Once in flight, the ADIRU switch is inhibited to
prevent the ADIRU from becoming inadvertently unpowered.
If the ADIRU switch is left on when the aircraft is shutdown and power is removed,
the ON BAT light will illuminate and the horn in the landing gear wheel well will sound.
The ADIRU senses gravitational force and the earth’s rotation to determine
attitude and true north orientation.
In the event the ADIRU fails, the Secondary Attitude and Air Data Reference Unit (SAARU) automatically
becomes the source for attitude and air data.
The SAARU operation is
fully automated and has no flight deck controls.
The SAARU employs
four fiber optic gyros and six accelerometers to determine attitude.
When SAARU is the only source of flight data, the aircraft heading
must be manually updated using the standby compass and the CDU.
The ADIRU and the SAARU independently evaluate input from
eight remote sensors called Air Data Modules (ADMs).
The ADIRU and SAARU receive their air data from the left, center and right pitot and static systems.
The ADMs send this information to
the ADIRU and the SAARU via the Flight Controls Data Bus (FCDB).
Once the data is validated by the ADIRU and the SAARU, it’s sent back out on the FCDB for use by the appropriate system.
The maximum permissible airspeed is limited by the lowest of:
Vmo / Mmo, landing gear placard speed, or flap placard speed.
An airspeed trend vector points to the predicted airspeed in
10 sec, and is based on the current acceleration or deceleration.
When operating at high altitude and relatively high weights, the maximum maneuvering speed may be displayed,
indicating the maneuver margin to buffet.
Below the speed tape, current Mach is displayed when
Mach is greater than 0.40.
When MTRS is selected on the EFIS control panel, current altitude is also shown in meters above the altitude window.
The selected altitude in meters is also displayed
above the altitude tape.
The PLI appears whenever the flaps are not up or at low speeds
with the flaps up.
It is important to note that the selected heading bug and the selected track bug are never
displayed simultaneously.
The heading reference switch (HDG REF) on the left forward panel is used to manually select
magnetic or true reference.
The compass display automatically references true north when the aircraft is
north of 82 degrees north or south of 82 degrees south or within the vicinity of the magnetic poles.
Each interval on the position trend vector represents 30 seconds and is based on the aircraft’s bank angle and groundspeed.
Range scales greater than
20 have 3 segments,
20 nm have 2,
and 10 nm scales have 1 segment.
Unlike MAP, VOR, and APP modes, PLN mode is always presented
with true north at the top of the ND.
When an aircraft switch position or condition can be automatically determined
by the electronic checklist, it is referred to
as a closed loop.
Non-normal checklists are arranged by aircraft system and they always
take priority over normal checklists.
EICAS messages with a square icon preceding them have
an electronic checklist.
In order to display the required normal checklist instead of a non-normal
checklist, the icons for caution or amber messages are inhibited
until after the first engine is started.
Warning or red messages, however, are never inhibited and
they always appear with an icon.
A green page number indicates
all steps on that associated page are complete.
One additional aspect of the non-normal checklist is
the countdown timer.
The timer continues to countdown even if the checklist is left and then returned
The Ground Maneuver Camera System consists of:
three cameras, camera lights, the Multi Function Display, and Main Landing Gear location stripes.
To keep the stabilizer mounted cameras pointing correctly, the system automatically compensates for approximately
80 percent of stabilizer movement.
The camera windows are heated to prevent
the formation of ice, frost or condensation. Camera heat operates automatically whenever the cameras are operating.
Camera lights mounted on
the nose landing gear strut and the outboard flap track fairing provide illumination for their respective cameras.
The camera lights switch is located on the overhead panel. For the lights to operate
the BEACON switch must be on and the nose landing gear must be down.
If the desired cursor is not displayed, simply pushing the LWR CTR switch on the required CCD
will display the appropriate cursor.
t is important to note that simply touching the touch pad will not
move the cursor to that location.
The cursor must be dragged to the desired location by moving a finger across the touch pad.
Touching a corner of the touch pad immediately moves the cursor to the respective corner of the MFD.
Normal checklists can also be accessed manually through the
NORMAL menu key located in the bottom left corner.
The CHKL OVRD key is also used when the flight crew views a checklist for reference purposes
and doesn’t intend to complete it.
When an entire checklist is overridden, its text color changes to cyan and the
CHECKLIST OVERRIDDEN indicator appears at the bottom of all pages.
It’s important to note that only an EICAS message with an icon will have a checklist
automatically displayed.
Since unannunciated checklists do not have an associated EICAS message,
a non-normal checklist would not be displayed
when the checklist switch is pushed.
The electronic checklist automatically inhibits unnecessary non-normal checklists from
entering the checklist queue.
When the flight crew select YES, the conditional line items become active.
If NO is selected, the steps become inactive and the text color changes
to cyan.
The absence of the ITEM OVRD key illustrates that conditional line items cannot
be overridden.
Information is removed or replaced by a failure flag, indicating
a source system failure or lack of computed data.
A boxed flag replaces a display, indicating a data source failure.
Boxed flags may have
an associated EICAS message displayed if multiple failures have occurred.
Boxed flags indicate
a data source failure.
The B777 automatically reconfigures instrument source selection when
a data source or display related fault is sensed.
In the event a fault is not corrected automatically, the Instrument Source Selection switches provide
the crew with a manual backup.
The normal source for the ND map generation is the active FMC.
If the FMCs fail, the
CDU can provide an alternate source of map data.
The Captain’s alternate air data comes from
SAARU single channel and SAARU also supplies attitude.
The EFIS Control (CTL) select key transfers control from the EFIS control panel
to the CDU.
The Captain’s CDU now controls the Display Select Panel and the other two CDU’s are inhibited from
controlling the DSP.
The Display Select Panel (DSP) page select key controls page selection.
All the normal DSP selections are available while in CDU alternate control.
The RESET NON-NORMAL key resets all the non-normal checklists and prompts the flight crew to
re-accomplish any annunciated non-normal checklists that had previously been completed.
For this reason, using the RESET NON-NORMAL function is not recommended in flight.
The electronic checklist system is not required for dispatch. A paper copy of all checklists must
always be available to the flight crew.
The message CHECKLIST NOT AVAILABLE appears on the MFD to indicate
that the electronic checklist system is inoperative.
If maintenance personnel have deactivated the electronic checklist system, the message
CHECKLIST DISABLED will appear.
The electronic checklist icon will not appear beside the EICAS message whenever the electronic checklist system is
either inoperative or deactivated.
The EICAS caution message SGL SOURCE DISPLAYS appears
and the aural beeper sounds to indicate
a single source of display information
is being used by some or all display units.
ALTN ATTITUDE indicates both AIR DATA / ATT source switches are
in the ALTN position.
DISPLAY SELECT PNL indicates that
the left, center, or right CDU control of the Display Select Panel is active.
EFIS CONTROL PNL L, R indicates that the EFIS control panel is
inoperative or CDU control of the EFIS control panel is active.
SGL SOURCE AIR DATA indicates that both PFDs are receiving air data from
the same single-channel source.
SGL SOURCE RAD ALT indicates that both PFDs are using the same source for
radio altimeter information.
