Before GPS it was LORAN, OMEGA, and Inertial Navigation which was from about the 1960s. Before that, it was dead reckoning using a drift sight and flight computer like an E6B and making sun/star shots with a solar compass or a sextant. Errors were often significant and cumulative.. but usually good enough with the forecast upper winds from all of the weather ships to enable you to home in on a VOR or NDB which had ranges of a couple hundred miles.
Back in 1980s I was talking with a former B17 air crew member (he never talked about combat missions), he mentioned one particular flight from mainland US to Hawaii in 1940s where the navigator wanted to make the best accurate timely arrival. Navigator constantly did observations and calculations with no breaks [I forgot to ask did he ever go pee?]. With so much work he got within one minute and one mile. I have no idea how it was normally done but I'm sure a good navigator is very essential.
Joe, what an amazing video. I’m an Aeronautical Engineering student at the German military university in Munich, to become a military pilot. Basically, you just summarized what we had as an introduction to instrumentation and control engineering. Our professor used to work for Airbus and therefore he took the Fly by wire-system as an example to explain how control loops work. I’m amazed that you addressed so many details in a video that is not primarily intended for engineering students. I think your content is extremely helpful for anyone seeking to deepen their knowledge in aviation and I’d be lying if I said that your educational and motivational videos hadn’t been very helpful to myself to keep on going when university gets tough. Thanks for your awesome work!
To piggyback on Captain Joe's wise words..."A good pilot is always learning," You could also say, "A good _________ is always learning" because it's true for basically everything!
Thanks Joe, I’m working on a qualification project (EPQ) in college, regarding the automation and technological advancements of aircraft from 1912- the future, this will certainly be a good source of information for the segment on fly by wire controls! Keep it up :)
I fly a fair amount for business and have noticed the "smoothness" or efficiency I guess of Airbus equipment as well as the 777. Now I know why. Thanks for another great video.
@@Jokalido well that’s pilot error for being an idiot. Also if the FO had been able to keep straight and level and follow the unreliable airspeed drill he wouldn’t have had an issue
You don’t need to know this level for flying or engineering. If a box goes down another box takes over. In 10 years I’ve never seen an elac problem, usually it’s sec3
Also more connected to your copilot who may be pushing their joystick the opposite direction the whole time you're unable to understand why your controls are not having any effect as your plane falls out of the sky.
That’s why only one pilot should be using the sidestick, you have a takeover push button if you need to take over (or other sidestick is glitching) and you have a DUAL INPUT warning if both side sticks are moved. And the connected control didn’t stop the captain of Atlas Air 3591 from preventing his FO from plunging the aircraft into Houston bay when he thought he was stalling and could see what he was doing
I think there is a significant difference between the old FBW systems and the modern Airbus. Both actuate the flight control surfaces electrical but In the very old systems you move the joystick and direct control a servo 1 on 1. In the Airbus system you tell through the joystick a computer that you want do move something. The computer then controls the servomoters only if it thinks it is OK. If you command it to bank 50 degrees, the computers ingores you and stops banking at 30 degrees ( or was it 25 ?) The old systems let you bank as much as you like. I am only a Xplane sim pilot and I am in constant war with FBW because I only like to handfly. I hope you also tell a bit over the other laws and how to engage them. But you are right, my problem are for most caused by lack of knowledge. This helps a lot to understand the system and use it instead of fighting it. So thanks
Actually, you can bank an A320 up to 67°, as long as you hold the sidestick to it's full deflection. If you release the stick it will roll back to 33° ans stay there.
great content on this channel! As a pilot, I would love to see more cockpit vids showing CRM during departures and arrivals with checklists run etc etc Thanks!!
Hey Joe , I know a guy from Bethel Alaska that has Tundra tires. And does some pretty cool 😎 landings on mountains. You asked in one of your videos. Get hold of me and I’ll see if he’s down to take you on a flighfz
Hi captainjoe, could you make a video explaining how the rudder pedals on the a320 work? I heard that they do not directly control the rudder but rather command a whole bunch of control surfaces to perform a side slip without any other pilot input?
I'm not 100% sure but unlike the sidestick the rudder on an airbus is mechanical. That's why it's strongly advised NOT to use the rudder in flight because you will induce an uncoordinated action. Use the rudders on the ground on landing and takeoff roll and before touchdown when correcting a crab angle approach
You wouldn't believe how my chubby C17 is like a Kung fu panda in the air. Roughly the same era of design as 320. It has a conected center sticks, but it literally feels like an extension of your body. I am still impressed every day by how well they design it, and 30yrs after I can't say that there would be a single thing that would need an update on FBW.
I got to fly the B767 as an FO for two years and now the A320 as CPT for almost 5 years (previously 5 years as an A320 FO also), my pilot heart will always be with Boeing, no doubt, but when things goes wrong, I'd rather be on an Airbus. Personal opinion.
I'm no pilot, but your comments on FBW versus cable flight system in terms of FBW being easier but cable has better feedback/"feel what's happening with the plane" seems very similar to the differences between driving an automatic and manual car.
excellent FBW ( fly by wire ) mechanical initiated messages transformed by flight controlling computers in to electronic messages which then converted in to hydraulic mechanical movement # but i have to deeply & clearly understand the ELAC & SEC functions in elevating , descending & slipping ( turning ) the aircraft #
When you watch the air show and see the demonstration flight of the Boeing 77x and the airbus 350 you realize the maneuvering differences are pretty obvious 777x pilots could bank deeper left & right and make more extreme movements, airbus however maneumaneuvering were more in a normal range of operations so I guess that’s the fly by wire system preventing over compensation on flight applications
If you were flying on that 777x during a normal flight and the pilot pulled those kind of manoeuvres I'd want my money back if it wasn't to avoid a crash
Regarding the side stick, how do you cope with the fact that, depending on you're captain or first officier, you have to pilot either with your left or your right hand?
Some advantages can be disadvantages and vice versa. Sully said that AF447 wouldn’t have happened in a Boeing airplane because you wouldn’t have had an inexperienced pilot trying to get the flight envelope protection to save him (Alpha Protect.. which was disabled when the plane went out of Normal Law due to loss of air data) nor would the other pilot have been oblivious to the pilot pulling back the whole time as the tactile feedback of a full yoke would have been impossible to ignore. I am not sure how strong the FACU is on the 737.. but it might have been contributory to the MCAS crashes as those forces would have been at their maximum with the stabilizer trimmed that far down. Not only would Airbus never befall an MCAS runway because it can have flight characteristics directly programmed into the flight control software rather than piggybacking on 1960s mechanical and hydraulic systems.. but the pilots would never have to physically fight it.
I have heard of one incident where one of the sensors on an airbus had failed which resulted in incorrect data relating to the pitch being sent to the computers, and I think you can guess what happened next (I can't remember which way it was, but the incorrect data resulted in the computer pitching the plane either up or down (the plane was flying level when this happened) and the pilots tried to correct it, but the computers ignored the pilots input, and so the pilots had to override the system in order to save the plane)
You’re either thinking of QF72 or LH1829. QF72 was incorrect data being sent in spikes to the FCPC which rejected all but 2 of the spikes which caused the plane to think it was at a high pitch angle and lost 600ft before correcting LH1829 was frozen AOA sensors which made the aircraft think it was stalling and forced nose down. The pilots turned off the ADR’s forcing the aircraft into ALTN law which disabled the protections These faults have been fixed and action can now be taken if it ever happens again
Captain Joe, Captain on the left side so does one's master hand of left or right hand affects flying especially Airbus wired stick fixed on the left side?
Another disadvantage of fly by wire is the programmed stops may hinder you more than help in an emergency. My private pilot theory professor (who was in the airforce for some 20 years) said there was an accident involving an F16 in a dive. Its programmed stops wont let you exceed 9Gs. But had this pilot been able to do so, he might have been able to save himself.
I congratulate you Captain Joe for your explanatory videos. I have a query regarding the FMGS system: I saw a video on youtube about the FMGS function, and that it works with 2 FMGC; 2 MCDUs; 1 FCU and 2 FACs. My question is if the FMGS also works with the ELAC and SEC?
Yes. Simply put when the autopilot is turned on the FMGC on the side that was activated (remember it’s AP1 or 2) is sending commands directly to the ELAC/SEC. Obviously with autopilot turned off all the FMGC can do is move the flight directors to indicate what the pilot should do but cannot move the controls itself.
There was one Air France demonstration flight of an A320 which crashed into the trees while landing/go around??!!. Was that because of the autopilot or the FBW system?? A video explaining that incident would be great.
That was not “caused” by the fly by wire system but the FBW prevented the aircraft from climbing. The aircraft was flying just below stall speed (alpha Max). The pilot was flying much lower than he should have been as the approach was rushed. He saw the trees last minute, applied full power but it takes a few seconds to reach TOGA power. Because the aircraft was at stall speed it wouldn’t let the plane pull up because otherwise it would stall and crash before it hit the trees. Basically pilot flew too low and left it too late to increase thrust.
