Transport Category Aircraft Systems

Transport aircraft systems have undergone many changes in the rapidly advancing electronic age, and Transport Category Aircraft Systems helps make sense of them. Designed for readers who know some aeronautical terminology and basic aircraft systems, this book provides in-depth explanations and detailed illustrations of large, transport-category aircraft and their onboard systems. It introduces aircraft systems by explaining the basics that are common to all large aircraft. By understanding how a system works on a specific aircraft, the reader can generalize that understanding to other aircraft. Transport Category Aircraft Systems covers everything from electrical power systems to oxygen systems to communications systems and beyond.

This book introduces aircraft to students in any aviation-related track of study, whether they are future mechanics/technicians, pilots, or aviation managers. High school programs will also find this book useful for teaching the basics about aircraft.Readers get an excellent overview of aircraft structures and systems. And a substantial portion of the book is devoted to reciprocating and turbine powerplants and the systems that support them. Similar books offered in the past are out of print, out of date, and some ignore turbine engines. Throughout, this book explains the newest technologies and the tried-and-true ones that are still used. It is easy to understand, heavily illustrated, and has many photographs-all to enhance learning.Topics include aircraft structures; flight controls and flaps; electrical systems; hydraulic systems; landing gear, wheels, tires, and brakes; fuel systems; cabin atmosphere; instrument systems; ice, rain, smoke, and fire protection systems; aircraft powerplants overview; reciprocating engines; reciprocating engine systems; turbine engines and systems; and aircraft maintenance and documentation

The increasing complexity and automation of flight control systems pose a challenge to federal policy regarding aircraft certification and pilot training. Despite significant commercial aviation safety improvements over the past two decades, flight control automation and aircraft complexity have been cited as contributing factors in a number of major airline accidents, including two high-profile crashes overseas involving the recently introduced Boeing 737 Max variant in 2018 and 2019. These crashes have directed attention to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight of aircraft type certification and pilot training practices for transport category aircraft, particularly as they pertain to complex automated flight control systems. As aircraft systems have evolved over the past three decades to incorporate new technologies, Congress has mandated FAA to streamline certification processes, with the primary motivation being to facilitate the development of new safety-enhancing technologies. Modern commercial aircraft rely on "fly-by-wire" flight control technologies, under which pilots' flight control inputs are sent to computers rather than through direct mechanical linkages to flight control systems. The fly-by-wire software contains flight control laws and logic that, in addition to optimizing performance efficiency, protect the aircraft from commanded actions that could put the airplane in an unsafe state. Automated flight control systems have largely been viewed as having a positive effect on safety, and accident rates have improved considerably over the past two decades. However, the increasing complexity of automated flight systems has sometimes caused confusion and uncertainty, contributing to improper pilot actions during critical phases of flight and in some cases leading pilots to unintentionally place an aircraft in an unsafe condition. Besides designing these systems in a manner that minimizes pilot errors and the consequences of those errors, aircraft designers and operators face challenges regarding maintaining piloting skills for flight crews to be able to take over and manually fly the aircraft safely if critical systems fail. They also face challenges regarding documentation and pilot training effectiveness in building accurate mental models of how these complex systems operate. The primary goals of ongoing efforts to address these challenges are to enhance pilot situation awareness when using automation and reduce the likelihood of mode errors and confusion, while at the same time not overburdening pilots with intricate systems knowledge beyond what is necessary. In the ongoing investigations of two Boeing 737 Max crashes, Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, concerns have been raised about the design of an automated feature called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) and its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor even though the aircraft is equipped with two such sensors. These concerns led to the worldwide grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft until the MCAS safety concerns can be resolved, significantly impacting both U.S. and foreign airlines that operate the aircraft. These recent aviation accidents have prompted reviews of the manner in which modern transport category aircraft are certified by FAA and its foreign counterparts, and in particular, the roles of regulators and manufacturers in the certification process. The challenges of certifying increasingly complex aircraft are largely being met by delegating more of FAA's certification functions to aircraft designers and manufacturers. This raises potential conflicts between safety and quality assurance on the one hand and competitive pressures to market and deliver aircraft on the other. Under Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), FAA can designate companies to carry out delegated certification functions on its behalf.

Aircraft Instrumentation and Systems has the adequate coverage to deal generally the topics for undergraduate course on Aircraft Instrumentation. It covers: An introduction to aircraft instruments and systems, Air data systems and air data computers, Navigation systems, Gyroscopic flight instruments, Engine instruments, Electronics flight instrument systems, Safety and warning systems. Every effort has been done to update the contents of the book to the present-day technology used in modern transport category aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Airbus industry. The text is profusely illustrated with block diagrams, schematic diagrams and a number of tables and glossary. Review questions have been included at the end of the each chapter for practice and self-study. The book is intended for teaching and study the topic for students of B.E., M.E. and students in Instrumentation Technology and Aircraft Engineering. It also introduces the subject to practising engineers and readers interested in aircraft instrumentation and to the flight crew