Glass Cockpit
A glass
cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features
electronic instrument displays. Where a traditional cockpit
relies on numerous mechanical gauges to display information,
a glass cockpit utilizes several
computer displays that can be adjusted to display flight
information as needed. This simplifies aircraft operation and
navigation and allows pilots to focus only on the most pertinent
information. They are also highly popular with airline companies
as they usually eliminate the need to employ a flight engineer.
DESCRIPTION
The primary component of the glass
cockpit is the Electronic Flight Instrument System
(EFIS), which displays all information regarding the aircraft’s
situation, position and progress. Comprising left- and right-side
primary flight display (PFD) and navigation display (nav)
screens, EFIS primarily covers horizontal and vertical position,
but also indicates time and speed. The second part of the glass
cockpit, comprising over-and-under center display screens, shows
the aircraft’s systems conditions and engines performance. This
is variously called EICAS (Engine Indications and Crew Alerting
System) or ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor), the
former being the Boeing term and the latter Airbus’ acronym. All
this information is graphically presented in a ‘need-to-know’
basis, however the pilot may query the system for further details
of interest.
Early glass
cockpits, found in the Boeing 737 Classic, 757 and 767-200/-300,
and in the Airbus A300-600 and A310, used EFIS to display
attitude and navigational information only, with traditional
mechanical gauges retained for airspeed, altitude and vertical
speed. Later glass cockpits, found in the Boeing 747-400,
767-400, 777, A320, and later Airbuses, have replaced completely
the numerous mechanical gauges and warning lights present in
previous generation aircraft.
HISTORY
Prior to the
1970s, air transport operations were not considered sufficiently
demanding to require advanced equipment like electronic flight
displays. Also, computer technology was not at a level where
sufficiently light and powerful circuits were available. The
increasing complexity of transport aircraft, the advent of
digital systems and the growing air traffic congestion around
airports began to change that.
The average transport aircraft in the mid-1970s had more than 100
cockpit instruments and controls, and the primary flight
instruments were already crowded with indicators, crossbars, and
symbols. In other words, the growing number of cockpit elements
were competing for cockpit space and pilot attention. As a
result, NASA conducted research on displays that could process
the raw aircraft system and flight data into an integrated,
easily understood picture of the aircraft flight situation,
culminating in a series of demonstration flights to demonstrate a
full glass cockpit system.
The success of the NASA-led glass cockpit work is reflected in
the total acceptance of electronic flight displays beginning with
the introduction of the Boeing 767 in 1982. Airlines and their
passengers alike have benefited. The safety and efficiency of
flights have been increased with improved pilot understanding of
the aircraft’s situation relative to its environment.
By the end of the 1990s, LCD display panels were increasingly
favored among aircraft manufacturers because of their efficiency,
reliability and legibility. Earlier CRT display panels suffered
from poor legibility at some viewing angles and poor response
times, making them unsuitable for aviation uses. Modern aircraft
such as the Boeing 777, Boeing 787, and Boeing 747-400, Boeing
767-400ER, Airbus A320 family (enhanced version), Airbus A330,
Airbus A340 , Airbus A380 and Airbus A350 are fitted with glass
cockpits consisting of liquid crystal display (LCD) units
The glass cockpit has become standard equipment in airliners,
business jets, and military aircraft, and was even fitted into
NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, and
Endeavour, and the current Russian Soyuz TMA model spacecraft
that was launched in 2002. By the end of the century glass
cockpits began appearing in general aviation aircraft as well. By
2005, even basic trainers like the Piper Cherokee and Cessna 172
were shipping with glass cockpits as options (which nearly all
customers chose), and many modern aircraft such as the Diamond
Aircraft twin-engine travel and training aircraft DA42 are only
available with glass cockpit.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Unlike the previous era of glass cockpits-where designers merely
copied the look and feel of conventional electromechanical
instruments onto cathode ray tubes-the new displays represent a
true departure. They look and behave a lot like computers with
windows and data that can be manipulated with point-and-click
devices. They also add terrain, approach charts, weather,
vertical displays, and 3D navigation images.
The improved concepts enables aircraft makers to customize
cockpits to a greater degree than previously. All of the
manufacturers involved have chosen to do so in one way or
another-such as using a trackball, thumb pad or joystick as a
pilot-input device in a computer-style environment. Many of the
modifications offered by the aircraft manufacturers improve
situational awareness and customize the man-machine interface to
enhance safety.
As aircraft displays have modernized, the sensors that feed them
have modernized as well. Traditional gyroscopic flight
instruments have been replaced by Attitude and Heading Reference
Systems (AHRS) and Air Data Computers (ADCs), improving
reliability and reducing cost and maintenance. GPS receivers are
frequently integrated into glass cockpits.
All new airliners such as the Airbus A380, the Boeing 787 and
private jets such as Dassault Falcon 900 and Eclipse 500 use
glass cockpits. Certain general aviation aircraft, such as the
4-seat Diamond Aircraft DA40, DA42 and DA50 and the 4-seat Cirrus
Design SR20 and SR22, are available only with glass cockpits.
Systems such as the Garmin G1000 are now available on many new GA
aircraft, including the classic Cessna 172.
Glass cockpits are also very popular as a retrofit for older,
private jets such as Dassault Falcons, Raytheon Hawkers,
Bombardier Challengers, Cessna Citations, Gulfstreams, King Airs,
Learjets, Astras and many others. Aviation service companies work
closely with equipment manufacturers to address the needs of the
owners of these aircraft.