@TheAusraelian Classically, you would pull the stick with your arm and this would pull on a series of levers and mechanical parts through the Aircraft to the flight control surfaces and this would raise the plane's nose. Fly-By-Wire is different in that, when you pull the stick, electrical sensors record the stick position and the plane computes the corresponding nose pitch. Electrical,Hydraulic or Pneumatic motors then powers the flight control surfaces accordingly, not the force of your arms.
The Airbus thrust levers have dents, but these are only relevant when Autothrust is activated. You can use it just like a conventional throttle, but if the A/THR is active then the dents command various power settings, Idle, Climb, Max Continuous etc. Usually the levers stay in the climb dent from just after liftoff until just before landing, the computers adjust actual throttle settings as required.
I´m not a pilot or anything close. But this technology is amazing! As a child a had some opportunities to see a cockpit inside. Mostly 747´s and some of Airbuses (but I don´t remeber the names). Man, were are all the control buttons gone? :-) Fascinating!
There is a MECHANICAL LAW backup, which allows for pitch control via the pedestal trim wheels and lateral control through the rudder pedals. I've never heard of an incident where it was needed and it's only really suitable for use whilst FBW is recovered. The flight control systems were tested for resiliance to electromagnetic disturbances: "ELAC and SEC computers are qualified in convenience with DO 160 for electrical susceptibility test, the most severe category (Z) being applied."
RE: bsquad4 On all turbine powered aircraft, they are thrust levers, not throttles. Throttles are only for piston engine powered aircraft (just like the throttle in your piston engine powered car).
Give me an airbus over a boeing any day! Very cool video. It explained the A320 FBW system very well. I 'd say it must take alot of getting use to after flying the conventional way.
Awesome video, thanks for posting this!! I think in the newer A320's, the cockpit screens are LCD-CRT screens are less energy-efficient. I could be wrong, though.
Not a all...during the formation with smaller aircraft we are always on the left seat (except sometimes for crew coordination in simulator...) so we are used to have the left hand on the wheel or the stick and to have the right hand free for something else...and for the few wheeled plane ive saw, on the left seat the communation button and the ap control were on the left side so designed to be used by the left hand.just a matter of training
Is there any chance you can upload the bit where he flies the aircraft right on the AOA limit, at around 105 kts with full backstick and rolling the aircraft too. I seem to remember seeing it as part of this video before.
fightingtemeraire, those are more computer systems rather than the actual transmission method. No one said fly-by-wire was perfect, but I have no doubt that it has prevented many more fatalities than the ones it may of been a factor in - we all know human error is the greatest cause of those. The ADIRU failure that was the cause of the Qantas 72 incident has also caused issues on B777s, however in that case it resulted in a total failure of the airspeed readout.
Personally I like both Airbus and Boeing, however, as far as hi-technology goes, Airbus is #1...The sidestick feature is so nice for pilots as it relieves the obstructed view of the screen that a conventional column gives. Fly-by-wire is now pretty standard and is very safe, reliable and smooth!
The original A320-100 did not have winglets. Very few were built and only Air France operates them. The A320-200 was released only a year or 2 later, and added bigger fuel tanks and winglets.
I have a question: Are the throttles fixed in steps (like in an oldfashioned ship) or are they smooth? Here you can hear some clicking noise, which sounds as if there were fixed positions... I do know that tere are about 3 power modes (idle and full power and something in the middle) and thrust reverser... And what is 'autothrottle'?
I hate make requests but.... any chance you could upload the middle part of the video where the aircraft is held at Alpha Max and rolled about? It was my favourite part of the video and I think it demonstrates how wonderful the system really is! Might also help convince our friend here of the merits of FBW.
of course there are manual controls, there is the ram air turbine which will be activated in such a case or if the engines break down. And then it IS possible to control it manually
Tnx for this video. its really nice. i always love airbus. and i will be flying one soon. and hopefully be doing smooth landings too. they r very smooth and quiet.
Nope, you can throw out the sidestick in that case. With some other switches you can send a mechanical signal by wires to the hydraulic actuators to some steering surfaces. The force needed to actuate a surface is so high, that it is practically impossible for a human without help.
Avionics are your instruments, weatherradar amongst other things. Anyway, concorde used analogue-electric fly by wire. The fully digital fly-by-wire with side stick control airbus uses, as seen here, was first used on the A320 series. And has nothing to do with Concorde.
@LottoWinner999 You said that Boeing planes don't have pitot tubes, not me! Any proof for your statements about the "Pilots Union" or France covering up the crash?
@xirux01 umm do you know anything about these systems at all? They're more reliable, safer, lighter and more comfortable for the passengers than a classical control aircraft with pulleys and cables. And there's more redundancy.
i wonder if boeing will have something similar to alpha protection on the 787 or will they rely on the pilots still if i had to pick id say airbus over boeing
@FTStratLP how can it? If there are no mechanical linkages between the cockpit and control surfaces, and all the computers controlling the flight surfaces fail...?
Into ALTN law (example: switching 2 IR's off). That is still with pitch protections. Putting L/G down after will put you in direct law iirc. So 3 "buttons". I do admit it's a bit farfetched.
Airbus is a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers from Germany, United Kingdom, Spain and France, with final assembly production in Hamburg, Seville and Toulousse. Regards
Sorry fightingtemeraire, but you're wrong about the pilot being unable to override the system. It's just a matter of pressing a few switches on the overhead, ones marked SEC and ELAC namely, which result in alternate and then direct control law. And yes, it is true the system had a few problems in its infancy but just imagine how many lives it has saved since. For example, the Boeing 757 that had a CFIT because the pilots forgot to retract the spoilers would have been prevented in an A321.
I think F-B-W systems is a mistake, i mean it's an electronic signal to use control surfaces, you loose all power you loose that and no control of the plane. They all need to be controlled with the pulley cable thing like the older planes have, like older 737's.
I think that overreliance on automation and the resulting degredation of pilot manual flying skills might be a factor to consider in accidents like AF447. Maybe we should reverse the roles and have the autopilot monitoring the pilot flying? :) Computers are after all better at doing boring tasks like monitoring data. Today most of the fatal airline accidents are from pilot loss off control and CFIT. Both i think can be prevented somewhat by giving the pilots more control. My opinion only.
Ever heard of roll? It's this thing airplanes can do to avoid each other. Seperation is more than just vertical, it's lateral too. Furthermore, you seem quite keen on listing incidents where FBW may have been a factor, but you haven't mention where the presence of FBW would have averted disaster, such as AAL956. The bottom line is this: Fly by wire has prevented many more accidents that it could caused. The Boeing 777 ADIRU incident you couldn't was MAS124.
Because when you fly a plane for the first time it changes you.... "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Answer to JSAirways. Me as passenger don't want to be in a plane with a tired pilot (for exemple), and yes I like to know there is a PROVEN system who can take care of the plane in case of pilot's mistake (witch happens). And in such plane there is at least 3 redondant systems. Yes I trust FBW, because it's clever and was taylored for pilot's help and passengers safety.
Actually he wasn't. The CFM56 is the only engine available on the 737. It's also available on the A320. HOWEVER, over 70% of A320s use IAE V2500 engines, made by P&W, RR and a few other companies in a consortium. These sound quite different, they make a growling sort of noise at high RPMs.
ive done alot of aviation research and i have never heard of max alpha and alpha floor sound like alot of rubbish please fill me in on these "terms phrases"
if computers fail in an airbus which can happen how would apilot be able to override it? there are no manual controls for the airbus.that even allow basic things like flaps and rudders to be controlled? those are basics incase of emergency..u could probebly operate the plane safely to landing by gliding if u had manual control...you could even get out of a stall
With this, and other modern aircraft having all these 'Automatic' features I wonder if Pilots may suffer from 'skill decline', it seems the aircraft virtually fly themselves, it must get a little dull for the Pilots-perhaps they should have to fly a Gypsy Moth occasionally to keep the skills in order....
Stop arguing about Boeing vs. Airbus. They are both 2 very successful companies, developing innovative technologies for the future of aviation. Both companies have their disadvantages, and advantages. None is safer than the other.
Sorry fightingtemeraire, but that's just not true. You can press a few switches on the overhead and the aircraft will enter alternate law mode and all protections will be disabled... press a few more and you're in direct law. Having said that, the commands are still transmitted electrically, but there's never been a failure of those systems (unlike the 737 which has suffered from control input problems, namely rudder reversal) so I see no cause for concern.
@mikel1982 Yes i do, That´s the sad part about it. I know more then i wish i would. It´s really hard to fly/travel when you know to much about the aeroplane you fly whit..
Well yeah, Obviously. Of course there are hydraulics but it's still pretty much Mechanical Control to control the hydraulics to control the control surfaces.
fyi, 95 percent of vehicles which also includes buses are automatic transmission in USA, I usually use my right hand on the wheel, no gears to shift. yoke is a better way to fly than with a joy stick.
when he was explaining the throttles at the start why did he say airbrakes? aren't thay called spoilers or speedbrakes? airbrakes are like the ones found on trains!
Aurbus developed a truly safe system based on computers and the pitot tubes. So if the information for the computer fails the most systems will malfunction. Pilots are trained to handle this situation but pilots are humans and forget things for example that they have to increase pitch to 8deg and thrust to 85. Because of their high altitude the air is thin and they have a save area where they dont stall or overspeed . But when the pilots dont know what to do they relied on the system and stalle
You can't theoretically stall, overspeed,overstress, an Airbus FWB plane with Flight Envelope. Thats why Airbus plane can make more extreme manouvers then Boeings or any other planes at airshows, because pilots don't have to fear to overstress the plane and still can get full power.
Big difference between the airbus and boeing FBW's. The 777/787 FBW is "advisory" i.e. you can override it but will have to use more force. Airbus is authoritative i.e. even if you need to override it you can't. I know which one I'd trust more..
yes! I agree with u on that! Life would be VERY boring! Especially because I have been longing to become a pilot for as long as I can remember! I don't want some computer taking my place in the cockpit! However, I doubt that computers will ever be able to fully replace the pilot. There is still so much a pilot dose! Just imagine an emergency. A power fail and the computers can't do anything anymore. Then ther would be no pilot who could still manually fly the plane...
Im not an Airbus fan , the benefits of fly by wire is very obvious, pilot related crashes on Airbus aircraft is lower than a non fly by wire counterpart. fly by wire helps to reduce pilot fatigue and reduced pilot related error. Even the most experienced pilot may suffer lapses in emergency situation. They should focus making the system more reliable to reduce similar incident like Air France 447.
Hard? push the stick forward: nose goes down. Pull the stick backwards: nose goes up. Release the stick: attitude is maintained. I mean, it can't get much easier doesn't it? Fly by wire doesn't mean ofcourse that a child could steer the plane, but it really does make it easier.
Furthermore, technically the aircraft should be immune to that sort of stuff, as the metal skin of the aircraft acts as a Faraday cage. That's why planes are regularly struck my lightning (the University of Florida rekons about once a year for a commercial jet) and nothing happens. NASA once flew a 707 in to a storm and it was hit by lightning 45 times in about 90 minutes and it was just fine... although admittedly it had a lot less computers than a modern airliner.
My friend i dont know if you are critisise me. but if you do. my sources is airbus. what they have said on the tele and what they have told magazines and other media, and what they have writen on there homepage. And another thing, the companies who owns the aeroplanes. are only intresseded about one thing.(MONEY)and they would say a old volvo is great if they earned a couple of million on it.
Is there any chance you could send the original to me? PM me for e-mail, if able This movie has actually changed some of my attitudes to airbuses (airbi? lol) -Sean
Ha ha ha. I have flown the A380 too. And the A320 and 340. Also the 747-400 and the apollo spacecraft. Oh I also have a few hours on the space shuttle.....and I'm only 23! Well not quite but waiting for that job from easyjet and hopefully I will get my hands on the A319 soon. Great vid. Terrible conn...
I'd like to add that the pilot him or herself can be viewed as a system that can fail. FBW, seeks to minimise the potential problems of the 'human system' Records show that FBW does this. Eurofighter110 makes this point inn his comment below.
I don't understand this left/right hand debate! Boeing: the Pilot in command has the LEFT hand on the Yoke, the RIGHT hand on the throttle! Airbus: the Pilot in command has the LEFT hand on the sidestick, the RIGHT hand on the throttle. F/O in both planes v.v. So it's the same in both, Airbus and Boeing.
I think your concerns about the potential dangers of new technology with regard to Fly by wire are overblown. It is tried and tested and I for one have been a passenger on Airbusses and trust FBW as much as I would any other system on other types of aircraft that have been in existence much longer and still from time to time, fail. Still you are entitled to your opinion.
