PART FIVE of an EIGHT PART SERIES on the GLASS STUFF

Used-to-be-a-Captain Mike Ray has discovered a tiny niche writing and pontificating about what he thinks about airplane stuff ... and loves to bore other aviation addicts by endlessly chatting about what he considers to be interesting details associated with flying the big Boeings.

Have you ever wondered just how a common, ordinary, garden variety airline pilot keeps track of all those complicated systems that make the modem Boeing airplanes work ... and flies the airplane at the same time? Ohhhh .. Youhaven't?

Too bad for you because I am about to describe in excruciating and boring detail another of those incredible parts of these marvelous modem flying machines.

For the most part ... all pilots want to do is fly the airplane. They are pretty annoyed when some little piddly thing goes wrong or screws up or stops working properly. They are absolutely apoplectic when some really important part of their airplane ceases to operate properly ... such as an engine. They want to know -RIGHT NOW - what is going on and how they can fix it!

The ENGINE INDICATING and CREW ALERtiNG SYSTEM

AN OBSCURE SYSTEM ONLY A TOTALLY DEDICATED 4IRPLANE ADDICT COULD POSSIBlY BE INTERESTED IN.

Captain Mike Ray

HISTORY LESSON

A long time ago, airliners had dedicated Flight Engineers who didn't have to know how to actually "fly" the airplanes. They were hired to ONLY be concerned with the mechanical aspects of how the airplane worked. They

operated all those arcane and complicated systems during normal operations and tried to fix the airplane so they could keep flying when something broke. The pilots were happy not to have to be concerned with all the technical stuff anyway, and it was a happy relationship. Even though they were an integral part of the flight crew, they were not "real" pilots and their operational function was limited to twiddling knobs and twisting dials necessary for the operation of the ancillary or support systems. They even had their own incredibly complicated looking panel encrusted with a vast number of imposing gauges, dials, switches, and levers. The "Second Officer" would happily sit sidesaddle at his panel along the side-wall of the cockpit. An example of that would be the Boeing 727 or the even the imposing Concord SST. Somewhere back in time (in the 1960s), probably with the advent of the Boeing 737, management and their accountants went to Mr. Boeing and asked if the modern jet airliners could be operated more cheaply by a two man flight crew. Overnight, the Flight Engineer became an endangered species. Somehow, magically, all the clutter and importance of' the "panel" disappeared. It was to be the beginning (re-emergence?) ofthe twoman cockpit.

How did they do this? Well, those incredible engineers accomplished this feat by automating and eventually converting the overpowering mass of system information into an integrated "glass" display called the

Engine Indicatinr and Crew Aleronr SYstem (EICAS); cleverly referred to by pilots as the "eye-kass."

This is an EICAS from a Boeing 777.

While this is a magazine article strictly for simmers, it is also an accurate and realistic depiction of real airplane systems. We will be focusing on the Boeing NG cockpit, and for the sake of our discussion, specifically the incredible Boeing 747-400 system. This is because the "744" has ALL the bells and whistles and therefore gives us a nice presentation. We must also remain aware of the fact that even the best PC simulations out there don't replicate all the parts of the EICAS system. These particular displays (747-400) are also very popular with simmers because of the terrific PMDG depiction on their fabulous simulation "Queen of

the skies series." I am saying all this, because there are a plethora of simulations out there which either do

not have the proper displays, don't have the displays at all, or have displays that simply don't have the "depth". In saying that, however, I must tell you that some simulations do have absolutely GORGEOUS replications of the original airplane panels ... and I invite you to become aware of and enjoy using these marvelous pieces of technology in your flight simming experience.

PRIMARY (UPPER) EICAS DISPLAY PANEL

This unit will show:

PRIMARY ENGINE INDICATIONS ALERT MESSAGE LIST IN-FLIGHT START ENVELOPE GEAR

FLAP

FUEL

DUCT PRESSURE CABIN ALTITUDE

LOWER EICAS DISPLAY SELECTOR BIG NOTE: the CANC and RCL function only operates the UPPER EICAS alert messages!

In "real" airplanes, this panel is located on the glareshield next to the MCP on the First officer's side. In general, however, flight sims have a separate selector button for the EICAS which will display this selector and the appropriate EICAS display on the monitors main display page.

There are 2 MAIN display categories: - ENG (engine) and STAT (status), and

- SYNOPTICS (system diagrams).

LOWER (SECONDARY) EICAS DISPLAY PANEL

A main feature of this display is that it has the flexibility to select various different depictions. It has two main venues:

STATUS DISPLAYS, and SYNOPTIC DISPLAYS

OTHER EICAS RELATED CONTROLS

There are some other selector and control panels. Generally they control lighting intensity and have some capability to selector "other" CRT (or LCD) panels should there be a failure. I have included two panels here to show some examples. In general, as long as everything is working "as advertised" these panels have limited usefulness and we are going to exclude them from our discussion. On the simulations that I have seen, these are generally ignored or not functional.

DISCLAIMER

What makes an egotistical,fearless ex-pilot imagine that he can somehow describe how the complex EICAS operates, let alone do it in a short and highly controlled magazine article. There are whole textbooks filled with a plethora of intricate and virtually indecipherable details, most of

which are of no concern to the simmer. The reader should be aware that this system is NOT SIMPLE. It actually has great complexity and has depth which requires a great deal of understanding. What we are doing here is just dancing lightly over the surface of a deep pool of system knowledge. Let's give it try and see what we can see "through a glass darkly. "

UPPER leAS

called the PRIMARY DISPLAY

1. PRIMARY ENGINE INSTRUMENTS

In "NORMAL" operations it will display

- EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature)

This is the temperature of the exhaust gases measured in the "hot" or tail section of the engine. If you look into the back end of the engine, you can see the EGT probes that extend into the gas stream.

- EPR (Engine Pressure Ratio)

The engine has two probes that measure pressure. One is at the front (inlet) end and one at the aft (exhaust) end. The two are compared and become the "epr."

- Nt (''N1'' rotor revolutions)

The rate of rotation is measured against an engineering standard and presented as a percentage. 1.02 would 102% of the standard.

There are 8 major sections to this display:

1. PRIMARY ENGINE INDICATIONS

2. THRUST MODE ANNUNCIATOR

3. ALERT MESSAGE LIST

4. GEAR INDICATIONS

5. FLAP INDICATIONS

6. FUEL INDICATIONS

7. DUCT PRESSURE INDICATIONS

8. CABIN ALTITUDE INDICATIONS and a bunch of other stuff, too.

The TMA (Thrust Mode Annunciator) is "small but mighty."

At the start of the take-off when we select the TOGA mode ... my eyes first go to the TMA to see if the engines have been commanded to go to take-off thrust. Then you should look at the engine indicators to determine that they are actually going to take-off thrust.

Another place the TMA is important is during the Go-Around. When selecting TOGA for the GO-AROUND, first look to see that the TMA is requesting G/ A (Go-around) thrust.

NOTES about DOING A GO-AROUND

The ONLY answer to a bad approach is to execute a missed approach or go-around. In Europe they call this maneuver "Overshoot." What happens when you push the TOGA button:

- Rotation to achieve an initial rate of climb

- Engine commanded to G/ A thrust setting

- Heading command to Aircraft heading at time of selection.

2. THRUST MODE ANNUNCIATOR (TMA)

This is where you look see the REQUESTED engine thrust setting. Particularly important:

- AtTAKE-OFF ... look for TO

- On GO-AROUND ... look for G/A

There are about 12 different indications possible.

This one is in red because it is a vel}' important (though small and often overlooked) indicator.

3. ALERT MESSAGE LIST.

There are three levels of messages: - WARNING (red)

- CAUTION (amber)

- ADVISORY (amber/white).

Can be RECALLED and CANCELLED using the buttons on the EICAS DISPLAY selector ....

NOTE 1: Since the flaps are in the landing range, IFthe gear is raised ... YOU WILL GET A WARNING hom. So, it is considered de rigeur to either:

A. Fly the first part of the go-around with the gear down, or

B. Raise the flaps to a maneuvering setting (generally 15 or 20 degrees) before raising the gear.

NOTE 2: You MUST set a target altitude for the missed approach. If you are hand flying, doing a CDAP (Constant DescentApproach procedure), or an ILS; then you will have to place a higher target altitude in the MCP before you execute the maneuver.

All artwork and text copyrighted by (e) MIKE RAY 2006

LOWER EICAS

called the SECONDARY DISPLAY

There are FOUR possible displays on the LOWER EICAS.

While it is true that a DARK screen may be selected, I don't consider that one of the displays.

ENGINE PARAMETERS DISPLAY

The FOUR display options are:

- ENG (Engine parameters)

- STAT (System status parameters)

- SYSTEM SYNOPTICS

- ND (Navigation Display)

This display includes:

- N2 (Rotation of the aft engine section)

- FF (Fuel Flow)

- OIL PRESSURE

- OIL TEMPERATURE

- OIL QUANTITY

-VIBRATION

STATUS PARAMETERS DISPLAY

SYSTEM SYNOPTIC DISPLAYS

This display includes:

- HYDRAULIC QUANTITY

- HYDRAULIC PRESSURE

- HYDRAULIC TEMPERATURE

- APU STATUS (When running).

- OXYGEN PRESSUR

(both crew and passengers) - MAIN BATTERY VOLTAGE (both AC and DC)

- APU BATTERY VOLTAGE (both AC and DC)

It is selected by depressing the ENG button on the EICAS display control panel.

There are SIX system displays:

- ELEC (Electrical)

- FUEL (fuel)

- ECS (Environmental Control

System)

- HYD (Hydraulic)

- DRS (Doors)

- GEAR (landing wheels)

There is a diagram of the flight control surfaces. It is particularly useful for performing the control surfaces check accomplished while taxiing out.

NAVIGATION DISPLAY

This is a feature primarily used for failure or irregularity of the ND display unit.

However, it could also be used during a nonprecision approach to keep the Navigation Display up while using the actual approach displays on the forward (normal) ND display.

All artwork and text copyrighted by (e) MIKE RAY 2006

EXAMPLE

This is a sample of the beautiful Boeing control and selector panel from the overhead of the Boeing 747-400.

... and this is a sample showing the

accompanying SYNOPTIC display. It tells us how the fuel is actually flowing in the airplane at the current

moment. This display is engineered so that it will display failures and problems so that troubleshooting can be accomplished using the image as a guide.

The LOWER EICAS DISPLAY has a feature called

SYSTEM SYNOPTICS

Mr. Boeing's engineers had an ingenious idea. They made the selector and control panels reflect how the actual mechanisms are set up in the system. This is referred to as ''toy modeling" and it allows a pilot to simply look at a simplified panel depiction and see where the switches are in the actual system schematic. I am demonstrating that here by showing the fuel selector and control panel from the cockpit overhead of the 747-400. Look at how the schematic and the actual control are integrated into the display. Simply exquisite engineering. It is really functional art in its highest form.

WHATISA ~YN""7,e?

Those incredible engineers then decided to extend their idea to creatively place an ACTUAL copy of the schematic into one of the CRT (LCD) displays in order to help the pilots visualize what was occurring. The result was simply FABULOUS. It is fun and instructive to actually take your sim and tum switches on and off on the control panel and observe what happens on the synoptic.

Here is an example using the FUEL SYNOPTIC as compared with the FUEL PANEL.

The EICAS system warns the pilot about a problem using the ALERT messages portion of the UPPER EICAS. They are colored according ti their importance:

RED is the highest level of threat and is called a WARNING, AMBER is a second level lower, and is called a CAUTION, ADVISORIES are the lowest level

and can be AMBER or white (STATUS msg) ..

There may be AURAL alerts that accompany the text messages:

BEEPER - 4 times per second

and accompanies CAUTION messages. BELL - FIRE WARNINGS.

CHIME - HIGH-LOW tone chime sounds with each communication alert.

SIREN - Alternating high-low siren with warnings alerts.

VOICE - Voices annunciate time critical information.

-engine fire _

-apu

-fwd cargo

-aft cargo

-wheel well

not set

-parking brake set

-flaps not in takeoff

-spoilers not set

-stab trim not in green band

-either body gear

not centered(on 747-400)

Any throttle at idle and below 800 feet and any gear not

down and locked

or landing flaps selected and any gear NOT

down and locked

Airplane speed exceeds maximum speed for the airplane configuration.

Loss of all engaged autopilots

Cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet

The EICAS STATUS messages indicate equipment problems that may affect airplane dispatch capability. They are different from ALERT messages.

Pushing the STATUS display button, the status display appears on the LOWER EICAS.

Along the left hand side is the list of the status messages. They are WHITE.

Pushing the STAT button again causes the messages to be removed from view andlor if available, the additional pages are displayed.

The messages can be removed by pushing the CANC button and recalled using the RCL

switch.

1 2 3 •
HYD qyy 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.98
HYDPR 2990 2890 2980 3020
HYD TEMP 53 55 58 59
APU
EGT ., N2 OILQTY
OXYPR 1650
CREW 1750 PASS
MAlNBATI 15
v·oc 27.5 A-OC
APUBATT
v·oc 27.5 A.I)C 11
CARGO HEAT FWD L RUD
CAPT COFFEE COLD tlLt·Lt
AIL ELEV AIL II.

Obviously, in simming, there is some artificiality to "flying" because the weather can always be perfect and the airplanes never have failures (unless we want them to). While I even believe and promote the idea that initial simming experiences should include flights where everything goes perfectly so proper procedures can be practiced and good habit patterns developed without interference from distracting concerns. There comes a time, however, when you should develop skills at handling irregular and emergency procedures. One of the "good" habits is to continually be aware of the alert messages on your EICAS display.

The first time a new simmer is likely to encounter the warning system is the jarring warble of the 'lAKE-OFF warning hom as the power is increased towards take-off thrust. It means that one or more of the items necessary for take-off are not "configured" properly. The two most common items are:

the PARKING BRAKE is SET and/or

the FLAPS HAVE NOT REACHED TAKE-OFF position before takeoff power is selected.

I have also observed simmers trying to make the airplane fly with some warning hom or another blaring simply because they didn't know where to look to find the reason why the hom is sounding and further, didn't know what to do about it. Since you have read this most excellent tutorial, you know that the most likely place to look is the upper EICAS alert list. This list will usually tell you what is causing the hom to annunciate.

In the "real" world, there actually have been airplanes with passengers on board continuing to operate with some warning message on the STATUS page (lower EICAS) and they were unaware

of it because they didn't periodically check the lower EICAS and remember, there is no aural warning for these messages. It demonstrates that no matter how complex and complete any warning system is, without the pilots attention being attracted to the displayed warning message and responding appropriately to that message, the system is worthless.

~--------------------~

Here is a "pilot fun" exercise; next time you are taking off and heading for your destination; at about 20,000 feet, at some "surprise moment" make the decision to land at the closest airport in the most expeditious manner possible. I guarantee that you will be pushed to extremis and definitely be overloaded. Simply making ordinary decisions, re-programming the cnu and getting the airplane to do what you want it to will tax your skills. Here are some considerations:

- Does that airport have a suitable runway

- Consider fuel dumping to get below

landing maximum weight.

- what are the terrain considerations

If you liked this kinda stuff and want a whole bunch more, it is available in Captain Mike Ray's new book:

"Flying the Boeing 700 Series Flight Simulators."

Available at WWW.PCAVIATOR.COM

or WWW.UTEM.COM

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enroute.

- Is there RVSM in effect on this routing. And so forth.

Hmmmmm, could be interesting.

A HOLIDAY GREETING

A lot of simmers out there dream of the day when they can strap a ''real'' airplane on, load the CDU, and go charging off into the blue. That is what simming is all about. It is for those dreamers among us who long for the sensuous feel of the yoke as the air

slips over the control surfaces, causing the yielding controls to tremble slightly. She is almost alive, this airplane we are simulating.

When I was a young man, I could fly ... Oh, wow could I fly. My silver airplane and I danced across the sky as I lightly held her in my hands, my fingers caressing her as I fondled the controls. And I loved her; even though she was a demanding mistress. She always thrilled me and I never tired of spending those uncounted

hours sailing through the vast ever-changing sky with her. Pilots are constantly being surprised, always being challenged, occasionally getting pushed to extremis by the demands of the ever-changing airborne theater.

Flying is always a second away from potential disaster and task saturation is simply a way of life in aviation. Simming allows a tiny window into the exciting world of flight.

Since I retired, I am frequently asked by well meaning friends if I "miss" flying. I only have to think for a moment before I respond,

"Do you think I would be sitting here behind this stupid monitor staring at a simulator if I

didn ~?" Flying is an addiction and for me simming is like looking at a photo album of flying experiences.

Happy Simming, Mike