Today was a wild goose chase of 737-200 photos online. I just needed to satisfy my seemingly unquenchable thirst: How did they fly that beast?

Its more about the automation that bothers me. Was their climb profile followed based on charts? How did they navigate when out of Navaids? (I dont remember seeing an INS). How dd they manage without an A/T? There is so much that I need to know, but I dont seem to find any 732 pilot who can satisfy my wild hunger for this info.

Until I stumbled across a promising man, “longhauler”:

http://www.airliners.net/profile/longhauler

I also stumbled across Hemant Bhana, an airline pilot whose written a good thesis on automation complacency. His research is extensive, but the key takeaway points are, well, key. You may read his work here:

http://flightsafety.org/asw/mar10/asw_mar10_p47-51.pdf

Downloaded quite a bit of NASA’s research work on pilots transitioning to glass cockpits. Its an old study: the days when the world witnessed the 767/757 and 737 “Glass cockpits” (Truly, semi glass cockpits).

And again kept scouring through 732 photos, especially those of Sriwijaya Air.

And if you really want to see a good video on the 732, I suggest you see both parts:

Good night folks, I’ve had a brilliant day today! Blue Skies!

I’ve kicked off project “The Cockpit Evolution” (TCE)with a good friend who knows graphic design. Sifting through my huge database, I guess I have enough material; too much infact! And as a result, I need to sit down and order it, chronologically.

Project TCE is aimed at developing a small video: long enough for the necessary details, yet short enough to keep the attention of the viewer. There will be two parts:

Part I:

The construction of the 737-200 cockpit (Basic): Gradually, we shall “make” the 737 cockpit, from the angle of need. The importance and need for every instrument shall be explained before placing each such instrument/device/system in the cockpit. This way, people would get to understand why the system exists in the first place.

In the end, a complete 737-200 cockpit will be constructed on simple video.

Part II:

Based on part I, the video will demonstrate how we remove few cockpit indicators and instruments and gradually replace them with more modern instruments till we arrive at today’s NGs.

Project TCE is going to take a hell lot of time, and will see my activity on this webpage sharply fall. I’ll probably come online only when I need a break, but otherwise: Its Project TCE just so that you may enjoy a nice video.

Video shall be non profit and viewable by all.

Wish me luck, guys!

(As I type this, my right index finger is badly swollen probably due to a microscopic foreign object that managed to penetrate my skin while at work.)

Spent a good amount of time reading the 737-800 FCOM and the patent that covers the PDCS that was extensively used on the 737-200s. Learnt quite a few things!

In fact, my reading of the 737-800′s FCOM  and the PDCS made me realise how simple AND tough it is to make an FMS.

Was dabbling with the idea of a Boeing 767 simulator (engineering) that can be used to train students. Working on it.

Got a call from a friend who used to work on the b

But otherwise had a very tiring day! Off to bed early! Good night folks!!

The morning was promising: The horizon a golden yellow urging me to wake up for a walk. The time was 0600am at UTC+5.30, and I wanted to catch the sunrise despite my late night due to an excited conversation with a recently Type rated A320 first officer, someone I’d prefer to call a Flying Beauty. It was amazing jotting down her experiences, having come from an ATR 72. The day before, she had sent me a mail that was more like a daily account of her type rating experience.

The excited conversation made me stop her and ask: “Wait, how do you manage your vertical navigation for the ATR 72?”, She giggled. In stark contrast to her new “paradise” A320, where the FMS is worth worshiping, I was mildly surprised to learn that the climb of the ATR 72 is at a fixed 170kts IAS, or 190kts in icing conditions. The power levers are kept in the “notch”, and the power management selector knob at “CLB”. Upon reaching cruise, the knob is rotated to “CRZ”, and the speed that the aircraft stabilizes in cruise is the cruise speed. Descent is on vertical speed, to maintain a speed of 240kts IAS.

Thats it. As simple as that. Isn’t that wonderful?

Ofcourse, such simple profiles don’t give you the best economy. But I guess the actual savings by following a real economical profile wouldn’t be much.

A former airline captain, who had been with Indian Airlines on the HS748s, Boeing 737-200s, and the A320s, before moving onto the 737 Classics and NGs at Jet, had got me his Boeing 737-200 Basic manuals. It was a pleasure (and pain) to have the 10-kg box full of manuals weighing me down! Folders in red, and font in gold made for a nice combination. “dare you damage them” said the Captain of yesteryears.

He was wearing a red checked shirt and blue pants from his Air Deccan days. And his booty is worth a steal! I’ll be going over to his place on the weekend to flip through the manuals of the “Basic” to get a basic understanding of a basic cockpit with basic automation.

As I’m typing his out, I am practicing the ATR vertical profile on a simulator just to understand something so simple that it gets hard to believe.

Automation addiction.

Have a nice night, my beloved aviators!

Woke up to a brilliant morning and a nice winter sun. Winter in this part of the world isn’t snow, but it a pleasant 16 degrees or slightly lower.

Done with my walk, I came back full of ideas. I opened my mailbox, and saw two mails: One from Pat Boone of Boeing 737 “Management Reference Guide” (http://www.b737mrg.net/). I had sent him a mail asking about the Boeing 737 VSD. Few doubts that I had got clarified, and I must thank him for his patient explanation, admiring him for his excellent technical grasp of things.

I had also asked about the Boeing 737-200s, and how flying has changed since then till the NGs of today. Capt Boone has flown all the 737 high level family members: the Originals, the Classics, and now the NGs. His 25 years of flying is something!

I had another mail, and this was from a pretty lady first officer who recently left the ATRs for the 320s, switching airlines. I wanted to understand the Airbus Training as she saw it, including the initial feeling of a fly by wire aircraft that claims to operate in “normal” law but is in effect, abnormal to the uninitiated. Some work to do out there!

Was pleasantly surprised to discover that Capt Richard de Crespigny, under whose command the Qantas 32  that had an uncontained #2 failure was brought back safely to terra ferma, is following me on twitter. Yes, it brings a smile to me.

Manipal Institute of Technology wants me to serve them as a visiting faculty member for avionics. their new Aerospace Engineering department needs someone to do the job well and right. Sitting down to preparing a proposal. Lets see how it goes.

And ofcourse, a nice long bike ride into the setting sun awaits.

Quite a packed Sunday, huh? Its fun!

The philosophy of Southwest is pretty baffling. Their 737-200s understandably had no auto throttle  and a very basic autopilot, that of the Sperry SP-77.

Southwest became, and still is, the biggest customer for the Boeing 737 family. The Launch customers of the 737-300s. 737-500s, (Both Classics) and the 737-700s (A NG), Southwest wanted things its way.

Apparently, because of the desired commonality between the 737-200 cockpit all the way to the 737-700 cockpit, Southwest, until recently, had the VNAV and Auto Throttle (A/T) either marked as “INOP” or covered so that they may not be used. So aircraft which promised better fuel savings through the optimal use of automation couldn’t deliver their best simply because the vertical climb, and the thrust settings could not be automatically managed by the automatics on board. All this despite Southwest being touted as “an industry leader in airline efficiency”.

Today, when discussing the issue with FMS developers, we were surprised why Southwest would have deliberately kept automation off its pilots. Yes, the analog displays on the Classics and the EFIS style displays on the -700s speak of commonality, but was it mere commonality?

Apparently things have changed since a new management has come into force. Auto-throttles (which were always present but never used) helped saved the airline significant money. And with a drive to fly RNP approaches, flight decks have been modernized. Hopefully VNAV has also been enabled, though unlikely.

So with the potential to effect savings with an age old A/T technology and better displays that ensure greater situation awareness, why didn’t Southwest adopt these? Even more thought provoking is that Southwest hasn’t had a single fatal accident. Could the lack of automation kept pilots in the loop?

There are many questions about Southwest that need a decent, definitive answer. Hope the answers come in.

Today’s been a real good day. Very Good indeed.

Carried an FMS CDU in my hand. Was a real wonderful experience to be able to do that.

Evaluated Project Magenta’s 737NG software as well. Now that was a shame. Strung a flight of 455NM, and the way in which it constructed the flight path, and targeted speed restrictions was disappointing.

Got sucked into a gripping photo on airliners.net. Do you see something different on the Captain’s ND? Well, it was way back in 2003 that Boeing started offering Vertical Situation Display as an option for new 737NGs, and as a retrofit for the then in service 737NGs. I doubt it has caught on much, but for operators who fly into terraneous regions, this is a valuable tool. Which really catapults the safety value of the B737 in comparison to the A320. Good safety, but the problem: its not standard.

Wonderful real on the article by Boeing on how they went about in deciding on the features of interest. Let me piece something together.

Good night folks. It 9:11pm here.

Okay, I was given the task of setting up a flight simulator. “Big Deal” thought I, “I’ve done it 5 times before”.

The architecture was totally different. the FMS was ultra thin. “Whats going on”, wondered I. The control columns were here, the panel displays, but the FMS?

So, curiosity kills the CAT (III?). I was eager to see what was behind the thin little FMS. No name. No marking. No idea who had manufactured the thin little, Smiths like CDU for the 737 sim. Who could it be? Well, lets power it on!

FMS...look closer! (next Image)

And on power up, good lord! Do you see what I see? Can you believe that? Can you?

You better. A marvelous piece of hardware for Project Magenta by Cockpit Sonic. So much for my experience. Caught off guard. totally!

Enjoy the pics!

IP address on an FMS? LOL!

Spent the morning reading up about the history of Universal Avionics. I must admit that I knew very little about this avionics company till I got sucked into the rich and gripping history of a company that’s built on focus, and passion.

 If I were there, I would have honestly done no lesser. But honestly, I don’t think I personally may have been able to match the feat of any one of those fine gentlemen who waded the upstream current to emerge as one of the top players in the market.

 Market. Universal Avionics isn’t an air transport name. Its more on the regional, and the business aviation front. Suspended between the flooded general Aviation market (ruled by Garmin), and the Air Transport segment (ruled by the majors we all know, such as Rockwell Collins, Honeywell).

 What stands out in this book is passion: to serve the aviator, and to better the best. And this focus was not a result of a selfish corporate interest to grab the market and make more money. The interest, and commitment was to make the flight deck better.

 The 100 page book starts off with the basics of radio navigation, followed by the need to integrate the various sources of navigational information. This need resulted in the first device of Global Navigation, Inc., the GNS-500. GNI was founded by a pilot, who wanted nothing but the best in the flight deck.

 As time went on, corporate turmoil resulted in the formation of Universal Avionics, by those who were “kicked out” of Global Navigation Inc. The grudge and the brilliant few resulted in a smaller company that eventually gained a larger footprint, by thier sheer innovation and strife for excellence.

The book takes on through the various Flight Management Systems, Cockpit Voice Recorders, and Displays that Universal Avionics made. Its rich in its content, appealing to both the casual reader and an aviator, or a systems person, such as me.

 When I was done reading, I felt like I was one of them. My love in life is for the flightdeck, and the avionics therein, most notably, the FMS. And Universal Avionics prime focus is on the FMS.

 Read it here, at www.uasc.com/history/

 Loved it. And I’m going to bed a happy man. For no reason but the pure love and excitement for those who are as passionate about something that I am.

Woke up in the morning to a sms from an ATR 72 pilot asking about the ability of the ATR 72 to fly a GPS approach to minimums.

The question, and my search through my files got me a bit confused. There was no clarity on the viability of the on board HT 1000 to support GPS approach. So I had to head online.

It was a crazy search, but search I did, nevertheless! I found online an Airworthiness Approval document from the UK CAA, which specifies under limitations:

“The GNSS HT1000 must not be used for GPS approaches.”

This question has clearly caught me off-guard, and I’m now trying to understand what makes a non-WAAS GPS approach feasible. And another thing bothering me is whether this approval is only for the specific aicraft: : G-BXTN.

The Airworthiness Approval may be read here:

http://www.caa.co.uk/aandocs/26265/26265000000.pdf

If you can throw some light, it’d be great!

UPDATE: The fact that the unit is certified for RNAV 1 opertions, and approaches equire RNP 0.3 or 0.5 automatically disqualifies the aircraft from shooting GPS approaches with an ATR 72-200/500

Dr. BR Pai, the former director of NAL, sent me an email requesting me to shed some light on the Q400 vs a turbofan of the same seating class. This was after he read my article on the Q400 vs the ATR72. Now that is exciting! Time to compare the EMB-170, and the CRJ 700 with the Q400. The winner is for sure the Q400, that guzzles lesser fuel, and flies with almost the same sector time.

Q400, ready to show your muscle?

Spoke to a retired airline pilot today. Capt Frank Elias retired about 5 years back from Air Deccan, after having flown the HS-748s with the late Rajiv Gandhi, the Boeing 737-200s for Indian Airlines, the first A320s for Indian Airlines, The Boeing 737-300/400/500/700/800 for Jet Airways, and the A320s for Air Deccan. Quite something.

So I wanted to know how he used o navigate on the 737-200. Without an IRS, and a GPS that is, while flying over the Bay of Bengal from Chennai to Port Blair.

“Radio Operator. He would fiddle with the radios of the LORAN-C and OMEGA to give us our course.”

And the topic shifted to the PDCS. An Advisory performance computer that would help the crew with take off/climb/cruise/descent figures. They didn’t fly with that coupled to the autothrottle. Was pretty hard I guess.

But he is one in a league of dying aviators: those who actually flew the airplane. Got me thinking loads: Operators of today, stand where when compared to the aviators of yesterday??

What a wonderful day!

Saw some studies on the variation of ISA deviation over distance. We didn’t have the data, so I asked a 737NG first officer from Jet Airways for the same. He gladly obliged, and flew the sector from Chennai to Hyderabad. “4 degrees” came his message post landing.

Wow. And what was the extreme that he has seen? “ISA dev +21, inversion layers upto +35″.

And how the aircraft performs in the light of such conditions: the study was superb.

Got my website domain (www.Theflyingengineer.com) registered today!

And what made my day better? Mark Kirby following me on Twitter! What an honor!

Pretty interesting indeed!

Was engaged with a long conversation of a very long cup of coffee post office hours with a colleague, discussing the difference between aerodynamic stall, and the stall defined as “lift less than weight”. Its kinda funny. How did we come to this point?

Well, the lower stall/buffet margin (that is seen on the PFD as the red and black barber pole) comes up only when the aircraft weight is entered in the FMS. Change the weights and the stall limits change! Now, an aerodynamic stall is independent of the weight, and solely dependent on the angle of attack, and the airspeed. Hmmm!

So the weight entry in the FMS which generates the lower barber pole on the PFD signifies the “stall” defined as lift being less than weight. This happens when, for the same speed and the same AOA, the aircraft banks, rendering the vertical component of the generated lift less than the weight of the aircraft which always acts vertically downward.

Voila.

We were in a nice discussion about Vmax and Vmo as well. Apparently, Vmo is a hard coded number, but the Vmax is dependent on variables.

Then came a very interesting fact: supposing the ISA deviation goes crazy in the positive direction, and you are at cruise, there can be an ISA deviation at which the available thrust si less than drag! Common sense, yes, but this common sense may not be in your FMS! So, your FMS may actually want you to continue, based on some “assumptions”. Ah ha! Something for you, David Learmount!

And we discussed a lot more on cockpit displays. Wonderful Day. Wonderful talk. Good night folks.

I was least bit surprised when I learnt that yet another A380 had a problem with its Rolls Royce Engine. This time though it was QF 31, and #4 had to merely be shut down.

Here is the description from AVherald (http://avherald.com/), a site a respect for its quality and credibility:

“A Qantas Airbus A380-800, registration VH-OQC performing flight QF-31 (sched. dep Nov 3rd) from Singapore (Singapore) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 258 passengers and 25 crew, was enroute east of Dubai (United Arab Emirates) when the crew needed to shut engine #4 (Trent 972, outboard right hand) down due to a low oil quantity indication. The aircraft drifted down to FL280, diverted to Dubai, entered a holding at FL100 for about one hour and lande safely on runway 30L about 2.5 hours after the engine shut down.

The airline confirmed engine #4 was shut down after the crew noticed problems with an oil quantity.

The aircraft departed Dubai the following day (Nov 5th) and is estimated to reach London with a delay of 31.5 hours.”

So what’s with the RR engines?

There are two major incidents that have occurred in the recent past that have got the eyebrows raised: the Quantas 32 (A380) incident wherein there was an uncontained engine failure, and the British Airways (B777) where ice in the heat exchanger blocked the fuel flow. Thankfully no lives were taken, but it raises questions on the credibility of the engines which once ruled the roost of the powerplants of the skies.

Here are other RR engine incidents which may make you eye the beautiful powerplant beasts with an eye of concern:

1. Cathay Airbus A330, “thrust lock and compressor stall”, Hongkong, 2010
2. Lufthansa Airbus A380, “engine shutdown”, Frankfurt, 2010
3. Qantas Boeing 747, “engine failure, Singapore, 2010.
4. British Airways Boeing 747, “thrust reverser unlock” on takeoff, forcing slat retraction, Johannesburg, 2010
5. Emirates Airbus A330, ”uncontained engine failure”, Dubai, 2006.
6. European Air charter Boeing 747, “engine surge” on takeoff, Reunion, 2004
7. Edelweiss Airbus A330, “uncontained engine failure”, Miami, 2003.

There could be more, but these figures speak a silent story.

So what really happened?

March 22nd was when I had excitedly begun a blog on aviation. That was http://theflyingengineer.blogspot.com/. A good blog of mine that died a natural death. And why natural? Well, because I got busy with a hobby of making aircraft lights, and also got buy with my articles that get published with SP’s Airbuz (Click Here to read the Exclusive Civil Aviation Magazine in India). And lets just say that I was getting to know myself better.

But the March 22nd I mention is that of 2010!

So after Spicejet invited me to be one of the first persons on the country to fly the Q400, I wanted to pen down the experience for everyone to read. It was then that I thought to myself, “Sheesh! I’ve lost my focus!”.

No more. The blog is back, but better formatted in wordpress. And my areas of interest are very clear.

For aviation, of aviation, and by aviation,

The Flying Engineer.