Plastic Pilot

One of my first posts on this blog, back in April 2007, was about what I called the Plastic Revolution - how diesel engines, glass-cockpits and fiber fuselages were changing general aviation. If I took part in that as an early adopter, I was by far not a pioneer. The key dates of the plastic revolution started years before:

• December 2002 - The DA40 TDI got certified
• December 2004 - The DA42 get its IFR certification, with G1000
• 2004 - The first DA40 I flew was built
• March 2005 - The Cessna 172 with G1000 is certified
• January 2006 - My DA40 TDI familiarisation is completed

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you already know what I made since that: the FADEC challenge (one year of flying TDI planes only, including renewal of my IFR rating), my training on G1000 which was the subject of many posts, and more than 50 hours flying DA40 and C172 with Thielert engines.

To achieve that, I had to go to Cannes, by the Cannes-Aviation FTO, which operates with Diamond planes only. That was not too far from Geneva, but it had some aspects of an exotic expedition. Flying in a new structure, away from home, in a different country, with only limited time.

If I was in the same position today, with the same projects, things would be much easier. Every second plane seem to be composite, or fitted with a glass-cockpit, or equipped with a diesel engine. Ok, that is may be a bit optimistic, but not that much. Replace plane by flying club or flying school, and that will become nearly true.

The reactions I get from other pilots when talking about modern general aviation also changed from “Wow, you’re lucky” and “I’d like to do that as well, but I don’t know how / where” to “Yes, my club has one / I know someone flying that” and “I also fly that / I planned my training this summer”.

Glass cockpits are now part of standard light aircraft equipment. Even Light Sport Aircrafts are delivered with modern avionics. Despite the financial problems by Thielert, diesel engines are spreading in Europe, where AVGAS price becomes really problematic.

From what I see nowadays, it seems clear that this revolution will not stop. More and more pilots will fly “plastic” aircraft as the fleet will evolve. This will take time, may be one or two decades, as the general aviation fleet evolves slowly, but I see nothing that can stop it now.

The plastic revolution is over, it’s now time for the plastic evolution.

Yes, this is your favorite aviation blog, even if this post title sounds much more like the typical anoucenement for a patch for a mysterious software. Apparently, the problems with the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet FADECs is now solved.

The FADECs software did crash when it received an out of range value from the trhottles. According to AvWeb: “Eclipse says its solution will increase the range limit of the throttle quadrant assembly to prevent the fault condition from occurring.” Given the kind of problem - both FADECs failing at the same moment, when throttle is pushed full forward - this is not really a surprise to me.

Eclipse will deliver a software update that will remove the problem. It is not the first time in aviation history that a software patch will solve a problem, but given the mediatic buzz around the VLJs, and the Eclipse 500 in particular, this is gets more coverage than an Airbus patch.

The name of the patch I mentionned in this post is a personal inventon, trying to be fun, and to make you think. The serious problem that affected the Eclips will be solved by simply uploading a new firmware. I don’t know however if the Eclipse interface uses USB or Bluetooth.

Jokes put aside, I know many pilots that will feel uncomfortable with the concept of flying a software controlled plane. Most of them associate “software” with their own experience at home, with their PCs. Airplanes are not all the same, airlines are not all the same, and software are not all the same.

The development standards, and quality of software used aboard aircraft has nothing to to with what you have in your PC. The hardware is also different, and there are no third products that you can download yourself in the FADECs, making the environment much more controllable.

Another thing that make software sounds mysterious (and then dangerous) is that most pilots don’t understand exactly what it is, how it’s made, how it works, and what it does. A magneto, alternator or carburetor is much easier, and these things can be seen, touched, examined, dismantled, and inspected. You can’t do that with software.

Shall we get rid of software in our planes ? Hell NO ! There is no efficient engine management without electronics and software. There is no GPS, no RNAV tools without software. Without software, no cockpit integration is possible. Things like TCAS, GPWS, Mode-S transponders, FMS, and many others are all software based. Did I mention autopilots ?

As any airplane part, software can fail. It’s not because something is computer-based that there will be more or less failures. Just like a crankshaft, pump, belt, servo, landing gear assembly, fuel line, piston, windshield, voltage regulator, intercom, or any other mechanical or electrical component, software can fail.

This is exactly why there are so many different computers on board. For engines management, avionics, navigation, and so on, each system uses its own, separate hardware and software, to avoid crashing all of them at the same time. That would be bad. At least as bad as a failing wing-root, or a lost engine making the plane out of balance.

So please don’t be affraid of software simply because it can’t be seen or touched, and don’t compare aircraft embedded software with “quickly downloaded - quickly deleted” kind of stuff that fulfills most harddisks. Software is the next step in aviation, just like voice replaced morse code, and composite slowly replaces aluminium.

With the highly demanding validation and certification standards required in aviation, the risk levels remain minimal. Not zero, but well acceptable. Remember that safety is not defined as the absence of hazards, but the absence of unacceptable hazards.

Large airports are mazes of modern times. Flying a good approach and land smoothly are good things, but the pilot’s job is not over before reaching the parking position (paperwork excluded). Understanding and executing a taxi clearance like “Vacate via H3, clear to taxi to GAC sector 1 via taxiways H, B, J and Y, hold short of ruwnay 28 at J” requires a good preparation, even before landing.

Even the example above - typical in Zurich - may sound complex, it’s rather simple compared to what pilots fliyng in larger airports have to deal with. The picture below shows a small section of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, around the south terminal.

The red arrows indicate path for arriving aircraft, and the blue ones are for departing aircraft… and this is only valid when flights are operated eastwards. There is another diagram for westwards operations…

Many studies identified runway incursions as one of the bigger safety challenges the aviation industry will have to face-up with in the next years. Airports get more and more traffic, and the reaction time in case an aircraft taxies inadvertently on a runway get shorter.

On ATC side, Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) are developped to detect possible incursions, and contribute to a better control of the lighting systems used to guide the aircrafts. These systems are based on ground radar, and multilateration of ADS-B signals.

There are also cockpit-side products to help pilots to maintain their orientation and situational awareness while taxiiing. Many multi function displays (MFD) can show an airport map, and even show the airplane position on it. The picture below shows the Garmin GMX200 displaying an airport diagram.

The most advanced versions of these equipments can issue aural warning when the plane gets close to a runway. Some also issue warnings when the speed exceeds a certain value… if the plane is not on a runway. This should help to prevent take-offs from parallel taxiways… yes, this sometimes happens…

A touch of fun (really ?) before closing this post. JKF is certainly one of the busiest and complex airports in the world, and sometime ground control gets… well… cahotic. This YouTube sequence is an audio recording of the ground control frequency, on a less than optimal day.