Boston Linux & Unix (BLU) Home | Calendar | Mail Lists | List Archives | Desktop SIG | Hardware Hacking SIG
Wiki | Flickr | PicasaWeb | Video | Maps & Directions | Installfests | Keysignings
Linux Cafe | Meeting Notes | Blog | Linux Links | Bling | About BLU

BLU Discuss list archive


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Linux, Avionics, and spins



Rich Braun wrote:

> The interesting jobs are in avionics.  Fifteen years ago, I was developing
> Intel 8088 and 8051 code for flight-instrumention systems; the underlying
> technology was a few years old at the time.  The equivalent today would be
> building systems around something like a P100--FAA regulations require
> a few years of field experience for all the various components.
> 
> It's very costly and tedious to get a product through all the hoops that
> the FAA imposes.  But it wasn't that aspect which killed off most technology
> development in general aviation:  it was lawsuits.  JFK Jr.'s plane was
> a rarity, a g.a. plane less than 15 years old.  The reason 95% of all g.a.
> planes today are that old is a set of legislative and judicial setbacks for
> manufacturers who faced unlimited liability after some court decisions sometime
> in the 1970s (maybe it was the 1980s).  Rather than accept liability for
> the entire life of a plane, they shut down their production lines.
This is very true. Cessna was the leader in GA aircraft with their single
and multi-engine high wing designs. Nearly the entire Cessna high-wing
aircraft are based on FAA type certificates going back well over 40 years.
While JFK Jr. purchased his aircraft used, it was a relatively new aircraft.
But still has the older instrumentation with needles. That does mean that
they may be able to determine airspeed and other information showing on the
instruments if the salt water did not erase the traces. Being an aviator
from the old school, I would prefer to have a pressure airspeed indicator,
an alcohol inclined plane ball (eg needle and ball), a pure barometric
altimiter, and a barometric rate of descent indicator. While these
instruments often lie, they are reliable and predictable. And, not to
forget, a real magnetic compass. I have experienced a complete in-flight
electrical failure (at night over water). Fortunately, I had a knee pad with
a light I could use as a flashlight. (Also, sparkplugs in a light plane are
powered by 2 independent magnetos which are totally independent of the
aircraft's electrical system). Light planes do not normally have a dual set
of instruments, so the older mechanical instruments are better. The newer
digital instruments, while much more accurate, can fail.   
-- 
Jerry Feldman (HP On-Site Consultant) http://gbrweb.msd.ray.com/~gzf/
+-------------------------------------------------------+-----Note: ------+
| Raytheon Electronic Systems  (W) (781)999-1837/1-1837 | My views may not|
| Mail Stop:  S3SG10           (F) (781)999-4030/1-4030 | reflect the     |
| 180 Hartwell Road            (E) gzf at gbr.msd.ray.com  | views of my     |
| Bedford, MA 01730-2498       (H) gaf at mediaone.net     | employer.       |
+-------------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
-
Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with
"subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" on the first line of the
message body to discuss-request at blu.org (Subject line is ignored).




BLU is a member of BostonUserGroups
BLU is a member of BostonUserGroups
We also thank MIT for the use of their facilities.

Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS!



Boston Linux & Unix / webmaster@blu.org