Aircraft Instrumentation and Electronic Systems

A comprehensive set of practice flashcards covering aircraft cockpit instrumentation, digital logic, data buses, and electronic systems based on the provided lecture notes.

How are blind flight problems overcome?

Artificial Horizon and Compass

Which organizations lay down requirements for aircraft instrumentation?

ICAO and CAA

What are the positioning requirements for aircraft instrumentation?

All must be located in a position that enables them to be read by the appropriate crew member

What is a design requirement for cockpit instrumentation in an aircraft designed for two-pilot operation?

The cockpit must be symmetrical, duplicated, and information must be drawn from different sources.

List the instruments for the 'basic 6' in their positioning from top left to bottom right.

Airspeed, Artificial Horizon, Altitude, Turn and Slip, Heading, and Vertical Speed

Which instruments form the 'basic T'?

Airspeed, AI, Altitude, and Heading

What two systems can be used to control glass cockpits?

Symbol Generators or Display Electronics Unit

Identify the instruments that comprise a full glass cockpit.

Electronic Attitude Director Indicator (EADI) (also known as PFD), Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) (also known as ND), and ECAM

Where and how is the marker beacon indication displayed on the PFD?

Top Right; the color varies depending on distance.

When will ILS data be displayed on a PFD?

When connected to the ILS frequency

What information regarding ILS can be seen on a PFD?

Vertical and Horizontal Offset and Distance From

In flight mode annunciators, what do the colors green and white represent?

Green is active and white is armed

What are the time-critical messages shown in red on a PFD?

Windshear, Pull UP, and ENG Fail

What is the priority rule for time-critical messages on a PFD?

Only one can be displayed at a time.

How many degrees of the compass rose are shown in the expanded NAV display mode?

$360$ degrees

On the localiser deviation scale, what value does each dot represent?

$1$ degree

On the glide slope deviation scale, what value does each dot represent?

$0.35$ degrees

When will the reverse indication turn green on the upper center display?

When extended more than $90\%$

What happens on the alerting message display if there are more than $11$ messages?

A second page will be generated.

How is the landing gear 'up and locked' status indicated, and what happens after $10$ seconds?

A white legend is shown; it disappears after $10$ seconds.

What symbol indicates that the landing gear is in transit?

Diagonal lines

What parameters are typically shown on the secondary engine display?

$N2$ rotor speed, Fuel flow, Oil pressure, Oil temperature, Oil quantity, and Engine vibration

What are the bit counts for a Bit, Nibble, Byte, and Word?

Bit: $1$, Nibble: $4$, Byte: $8$, Word: $16$

In signed binary numbers, what do the digits $0$ and $1$ represent?

$0 = +$ (positive) and $1 = -$ (negative)

What is the maximum value of a sign and magnitude number containing $4$ bits?

$$7$$

Convert the following decimal numbers to sign and magnitude format: $-12$, $+28$, and $-65$.

$-12 = 11100$, $+28 = 011100$, $-65 = 11000001$

What are the four main numbering systems and their respective bases?

Decimal ($10$), Octal ($8$), Hexadecimal ($16$), Binary ($2$)

How many binary bits are required to represent an octal number?

$$3$$

What happens to digits $10$ to $15$ in the Hexadecimal system?

They change to letters ($A$ through $F$).

What is the easiest way to find the ones complement of a signed binary number?

Use an Inverter

How would an analogue signal be best described?

A signal with varying amplitude.

What is the definition of resolution in a digital system?

The measure of the ability to respond to small changes to the input.

What is the general rule for correctly reproducing analogue signals (Nyquist frequency)?

The signal needs to be sampled at a frequency that is at least twice the analogue input bandwidth frequency.

What is the quantization interval?

The gap between two quantization levels.

What are the two speeds used for transmitting data on ARINC 429?

Low speed ($12K/14K\,bits/s$) and High speed ($100k\,bits/s$)

What is the purpose of the parity bit in ARINC 429?

Error checking

What type of data bus was ARINC 573 developed for?

Transmitting information into the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR).

How many devices does an ARINC 629 system allow on a $100\,m$ long bus?

$120$ devices

What type of coupling is used for an ARINC 629 data bus?

Inductive Coupling

What are the Boolean notations for AND, OR, and NOT gates?

AND = $A \cdot B$, OR = $A + B$, NOT = $\bar{A}$

How is the XOR (Exclusive OR) gate output determined for a three-input configuration?

Any odd number of ones gives a logic one output.

Which bus in a computer is purely uni-directional?

Address Bus

What is the difference between static and dynamic RAM?

Static remains the same until manually changed; Dynamic is constantly changing to ensure data is not forgotten.

How are EPROM devices erased?

By flooding them with UV light.

How is light confined inside the core of a fibre optic cable?

Total Internal Reflection

What is the rule regarding cracks when examining the core end of a fibre optic cable?

Any crack more than $\frac{1}{4}$ radius from the edge inside is not permitted.

What is the minimum bend radius of a fibre optic cable?

Greater than $1.5$ times the diameter.

What are the three viewing modes for LCDs?

Reflective, Transmissive, and Transflective

At what voltage value will an electrostatic spark become visible?

$$10,000\,V$$

What should be the resistance value of an ESD wrist strap?

$$1-2\,MegaOhm$$

Define the three software categories: Core, Operational, and Data Base.

Core: Operating system/utilities. Operational: Software varying for aircraft configuration. Data Base: Parameter changes rather than full software changes.

What is HIRF?

High Intensity Radiated Fields; specifically undesired radiation from ground-based transmitters.

What is the required spacing for static wick dischargers?

$9$ inches

What does the status 'OOOI' signify in the ACARS MISC menu?

OFF, OUT, ON, and IN

What performance modes are optimized by the FMC performance function?

ECON, MIN FUEL, and MIN TIME

What are the four control laws defined for fly-by-wire?

Normal, Alternate, Direct, and Mechanical

What sensors does an IRS (Inertial Reference System) use?

Accelerometers and ring laser gyros

What are the three types of BITE (Built-In Test Equipment) sensor recognitions?

Type 1 (Last $64$ legs), Type 2 (Last flight leg), and Type 3 (Current status)