Avionics Course Avionics Course
Avionics History - Introduction Avionics History - Introduction
« Avionics »?
• AVIONICS is a general term which literally means AVIation electrONICS.
• In essence it comprises all electronic systems designed for use on aircraft. At Avionics Course
a basic level this comprises communications, navigation and the display and
management of multiple systems. Avionics History - Introduction
• It also comprises the literally hundreds of electronic systems that are fitted to
aircraft to fulfill specific tasks.
• The domain of avionics and its impact on aerospace technology has grown at
an amazing rate. Initially the ancillary part of an aircraft, avionics has evolved
to an overall presence into aircraft of today, to the extend that in an
increasingly number of aircraft types it is the avionics that is really flying the
aircraft, the pilot “instructing” and supervising the electronics to make the
aircraft do what is wanted.
Paul Hopff
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1911 - First Wireless Air to Ground Transmission Avionics
• The world’s first wireless transmission from an aircraft occurred over West Palm Beach, • What is meant by « avionics »?
Florida in February 1911 with John Alexander Douglas McCurdy at the controls.
• Designed and built by Oscar C. Rosen in 1911, this wireless transmitter is the oldest known • How aviation evolved from 1910 till today
surviving example of airborne radio. It was carried aboard a Curtiss aircraft piloted by J.A.D.
McCurdy. The airplane could not carry the additional weight of Rosen, so the telegraph key • Avionics in civil aircraft today
was attached to the control wheel, and McCurdy sent the message.
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Avionics History - Introduction Avionics History - Introduction
1929 – Dornier Do X 1912 – ITU – Radio callsigns
• At the third International Radiotelegraph
Conference (London, 1912) of the ITU
(International Telecommunications Union),
the first radio callsigns were assigned and
approved.
• In 1919 it was also the ITU that co-founded
the ICAN/CINA (International Commission
for Air Navigation / Comité International),
an early predecessor of the current ICAO.
• The ICAN defined an initial set of codes.
Belgium was assigned the code “O-B”. The
letter “B” clearly referred to Belgium. The
first aircraft that flew around with these
codes was the Fokker D-VII “O-BEBE”
(1919). This was changed into “OO-” in
1929.
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1931 – Brussels Airport (Haren / Evere) – Radio facilities 1919 – First transatlantic crossing
• Vickers Vimy, flown by John Alcock & Arthur Whitten Brown
• From St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland
• The aircraft was equipped with a radio communication unit, fed by a ram air turbine.
Clifden (Ireland)
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Avionics History - Introduction Avionics History - Introduction
1940 – Other applications… 1937 – British Overseas Airways flying boat
Junkers Ju 88
• Short Empire flying boat.
• Radio communication and navigation
equipment at a dedicated working position.
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Messerschmitt Me 110
1940 – Other applications… 1940 – Boeing 314 flying boat (Pan American airways)
• 5-man cockpit:
• Two pilots
Begin of modular avionics • Navigator
• Radio-operator (marconist)
Note the radio equipment!
• Flight engineer
EK = Empfänger Kurzwelle
SK = Sender Kurzwelle
SL = Sender Langewelle
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1943 – Radar – FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 (Germany) 1940 – Autopilot (Honeywell)
• This autopilot essentially consisted of two spinning
gyroscopes located in cases attached to the
airplane.
• One gyroscope, called the Flight Gyro, was
located near the aircraft's center of gravity (10)
and detected changes in roll and pitch.
• The Directional Gyro, located in the bombsight
stabilizer (1), detected changes in yaw.
FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2, operating on a • Using a series of electrical signals, the
frequency of 90 MHz with a peak power of 2,5 kW. C-1 Autopilot controlled the aircraft with servos
Instrumented range: 8 km. connected to the control surfaces (15, 18, 19).
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1944 – Boeing B-29 bomber War times...
• Radio communication
equipment
• The Honeywell C-1 Autopilot was an
• Radio compass (ADF) electronic-mechanical system used to
• IFF equipment lessen pilot fatigue by automatically
flying an airplane in straight and level
flight.
• It could also be used to fly the aircraft
through gentle maneuvers.
• When combined with the Norden
bombsight, it created the stability
necessary to bomb targets accurately
from high altitude.
16 Installed on the Boeing B-17, B-29 and Consolidated B-24 Liberator 14
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1970 – Boeing 747-100 – 3-person cockpit 1947 – The silent revolution…
The Nobel Prize in Physics
1956 was awarded jointly to
William Bradford Shockley,
John Bardeen & Walter
Houser Brattain (Bell Labs)
"for their researches on
semiconductors & their
discovery of the transistor
effect".
John Bardeen, William
Inertial Navigation System (INS) Shockley and Walter
replaces the navigator… Brattain, the inventors of
the transistor.
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1980 – Boeing 767 – 2-person cockpit 1960 – Boeing 707 – 4-person cockpit
On-board computers and integrated
displays replace the flight
engineer…
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1980-202X – What happened since? Comparison Boeing 747-200 vs Boeing 747-400
• Technical improvements
• Cockpit integration
• Optimalizations
• Safety enhancements
• Flight Efficiency solutions
• System integration
• Additional electronic applications
• Automatisation Application of digital integration techniques allowed the more than 700 controls, instruments and switches
on the Boeing 747-200 (three-person cockpit) to be reduced to less than 200 on the Boeing 747-400 (two-
person cockpit).
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Aircraft Systems – ATA classification Crew Workload Reduction enabled by Avionics
A numerical technical classification of all the systems and sub systems on an aircraft which is
universally used in aircraft engineering and aircraft maintenance. It was developed by the former
Air Transport Association (ATA) since renamed Airlines for America (A4A).
• ATA 25 Flight Deck Layout • ATA 31 Control and Display System
• ATA 21 & 36 Air Systems • ATA 31 Recording Systems
• ATA 22 Automatic Flight System • ATA 32 Landing Gear • 1950: 5-person cockpit (DC-6)
• ATA 22 Flight Management System • ATA 33 Lights • 1960: 4-person cockpit (B707)
• ATA 23 Communication • ATA 34 Navigation • 1970: 3-person cockpit (B747/A300)
• ATA 24 Electrical System • ATA 35 Oxygen System • 1980: 2-person cockpit (B767/A310)
• ATA 26 Fire and Smoke Protection • ATA 42 Avionics Networks and IMA • ....
• ATA 27 Flight Controls • ATA 45 Onboard Maintenance System • 20XX: 1-person cockpit?
• ATA 27 Slats and Flaps • ATA 46 Information Systems
• ATA 28 & 47 Fuel System • ATA 46 ATC Communication System
• ATA 29 Hydraulic System • ATA 49 Auxiliary Power Unit
2022: Antonov 124: 6-person crew...
• ATA 30 Ice and Rain Protection • ATA 52 Doors
Spherical Image | RICOH THETA (theta360.com)
• ATA 70 Engines
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Boeing 777 – Avionics bay Core Avionics Systems (ref. R.P.G. Collinson)
Boeing 777 Avionics Compartment Panoramic - HawkEye Media LLC
• Systems Which Interface Directly
with the Pilot
• Aircraft State Sensor Systems
• Navigation Systems
• Outside World Sensor Systems
• Task Automation Systems
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Avionics Course – Curriculum (1) Value of avionics in contemporary aviation
• The cockpit environment – a historical overview, evolution and crew tasks; human factors issues • The avionics equipment on a modern military or civil aircraft can account for around 30% of
• Head down display technologies (classic instruments + electronic equivalents) the total cost of the aircraft. This figure can be over 75% of the total cost in the case of an
• Head up displays airborne early warning aircraft (AWACS).
• Helmet mounted displays • Modern general aviation aircraft also have a significant avionics content. For example, color
• Aircraft Electrical Power Networks head down displays, GPS satellite navigation systems, radio communications equipment.
• Airborne instrumentation and air data sensors Avionics can account for 10% of their total cost.
• Fundamentals of radio propagation and antenna design • The avionic systems are essential to enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission
• Navigation fundamentals safely and efficiently, whether the mission is carrying passengers to their destination in the
• Radio navigational aids; direction finding, VOR, DME, NDB, ILS, marker beacon case of a civil airliner, or, in the military case, intercepting a hostile aircraft, attacking a
• Global positioning system (GNSS) ground target, reconnaissance or maritime patrol.
• Inertial navigation systems (INS/IRS) • Top 10 companies in Avionics Market in 2022:
• Performance Based Navigation and beyond
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Avionics Course
Avionics History - Introduction
Avionics Course – Curriculum (2)
• Communications (VHF, UHF, Satcom, Datalink)
• Weather Radar
• Integration of avionics - Flight Management Systems
• Integration of avionics (IMA)
• Data busses: basic concepts, ARINC 429/629/664 MIL-1553, AFDX
• Automatic Flight – Autoland – Thrust control
• Fly-by-wire: Basic principles and A320/330 case study
• Airborne surveillance systems
• Airborne Safety Nets: ACAS and TAWS
• Recording systems (FDR, CVR, QAR)
• Engine Control Systems (FADEC)
• Certification
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