![]() The skies are ruled by mainly two manufacturers – Airbus and Boeing. If you’re an AV Geek, feel free to skip this part □ Others, please read on. ![]() This blog post is going to be my experience of flying on the Airbus A380. I was flying from Hyderabad to New York via Dubai and the second leg of the trip was on the Airbus A380. And during that phase, I added “Fly on Airbus A380” as one of my bucket list items, hoping that it would happen one day.įast forward to 2023, I flew the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in service during my first international trip to the USA. From keeping track of flights, to understanding runway orientations and aircraft parts, I’m deeply fascinated by it. Over the years, I’ve not only enjoyed flying but also developed a deep interest in aviation. Flying over the Arabian Sea and having a Samosa up there was an experience of its kind. Technically it was my dad who wanted to give me the experience. He is about to take off on his first digital “flight.” Pilot’s seat in the flight simulator.I vividly remember the first flight I took – Mumbai to Goa – in an Air Deccan, Bombardier aircraft which was a couple of decades ago. As Kelvin began to adjust the monitor controls in the pilot’s seat, the excitement quickly took over. Today, first steps of flight training can be done entirely on digital flat panel screens (see Flat Panel Trainer for Lufthansa planes), and yet it quite closely reflects the actual controls on modern aircraft. However, despite the widespread use, there are some issues to sort out in advancing computerized flight control. Some aircraft will have a mechanical backup where pilots can manually control the plane in case of an electronic failure, but this article in Flying Magazine more fully evaluates this advancement in digital flight, also coined “Fly by Wire.” The ability to type in exact numbers instead of manually adjusting controls allows for more precise control, thus affecting safety. Newer models of Boeing 747 have in their cockpits sleek flat panel screens and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner recently incorporated glass overhead displays that overlay digital images onto the window of the cockpit.Īccording to manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus, automated controls are beneficial since software is more light-weight and cost-effective to maintain compared to hardware and are re-programmable to various aircraft types and to further technological advances. More aircraft cockpits are switching to have an increasing digital control with flat panel screens like this: Boeing 747 cockpit in 2006, photo by Darryl Wilkins Maybe a lever or joy stick? With the exception of one steering lever in between his legs, all he has is the flickering lights from the flat screen monitors, with a digital image of a throttle moving on its own inside the screen. Kelvin scans across his equipment and there are no physical buttons to press or switches to flip. A pilot’s cockpit brings to mind images of panels full of buttons and knobs like this to control the plane: Boeing 747 cockpit built in 1977, photo by NASA/Tony Landis The rumbling sound blended with soft clicks and splatters of rain hitting the plane body.īut something seems to be missing. A few more buttons made a fourth big screen above them change from displaying a sunny flight track to a rainy image of the Vancouver International Airport. “You’re the pilot, I’m the copilot.”Īs John seated himself to Kelvin’s right, he pressed a few keys on an iPad and made Kelvin’s monitors flicker with fluorescent green, pink, and yellow gauges. “This is essentially the day one training program for all Boeing 747 pilots,” the instructor who introduced himself as John explained with a smile. After a long day of work, a Groupon gift ticket had brought him to try a 45 minute pilot experience in a commercial aircraft flight simulator. Kelvin is at Flight City Enterprises, his local aviation store at the edge of the Vancouver International Airport grounds. Three flat screen monitors glowed in the dark, each the size of a regular office desktop computer. Only a thick brown curtain sectioned off the flight simulator from the rest of the store, but the vibrations sounded in Kelvin’s ears and echoed through his body as if he were boarding a plane. Photo by MakiĪ low rumbling filled the room as Kelvin walked into the flight simulator. Flat screen control panels in the flight simulator.
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