Collins New Big Brother

In coming issues, AADR will be focussing sharply on electronic aids in both training and frontline work, as “second brains” for fast and proper operation of multi-engined aircraft.

In the meantime, we present a profile on what could logically become a standard cockpit item-the Flight Profile Advisory.

Annunciator panels, checklists and the bloke in both the right-hand seat or the F/E’s place (if one is operating an RPT type) can only safeguard up to a certain point; beyond that point, stress and other diversionary priorities could take over and completely upset that priority system.

The Flight Profile Advisory (FPA) really acts as an additional voice. Immune to sudden diversionary incidents which could throw the human element off balance.

Collins GA Division of Rockwell International at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, markets just such an appliance Collins Flight Profile Advisory Pro Line FPA-80, a 3lb black box with tolerances tailored to fit the fast twin market.

Depending on what you hook it into, the FPA-80 can give out, in a natural-sounding human voice, a number of warnings or aural checks. In operation with a radio altimeter or ILS receiver it:

• Announces arrival at 2000ft or 2500ft AGL, announces altitude below 1000ft in 100ft stages, tells the skipper of any ILS deviations and finally gives out with decision height.

For kicks, it can tell him to check gear when he’s taking his aircraft to a radio height of 500ft or below.

If you hook the FPA-80 into an autopilot and air data system, the black box will also tell you of your altitude, trim required and altitude hold.

The FPA-80 has been marketed for just over a year, and is taking steady and progressive hold of most world markets as pilot workload plus the increased need for triple-checking becomes apparent in a fast-moving and definitely crowded sky.

Let’s look at the FPA-80 with the lid off; it’s a solid-state system, completely automatic and needing no controls or visual displays.

Collins tells us that the setup has no moving parts at all, no belts, discs or tapes. It uses digital computer technology to store and retrieve sound from its solid-state memory, calls out the information in either a male or female natural-sounding voice and gives the information logical priority. The message is repeated thrice, then shuts off.

Collins, after researching the repetition problem, found that most aircrew tend to “shut out” the information if it continues transmitting the information like a cracked gramophone record.

The messages come through the cockpit audio system or a dedicated cockpit speaker.

Encapsulated, the FPA-80’s main function is to announce radio altitude and decision height; the second function is to announce messages of an advisory or warning nature, says Collins.

These messages are for glideslope and localiser deviations, trim failure, attitude and barometric altitude deviations and landing gear, among others.

Take some typical examples:

Radio altitude and decision height: the FPA-80 announces, “Radio Altitude” when the aircraft gets into the radio alarm’s operating range 2000 or 2500ft, depending on the system.

When the aircraft gets down to 1000ft, the black box calls, “One thousand,” and continues to call out the heights at 100ft intervals until one gets down to 100 ft when it gives out with, “One hundred. ”

“Minimum,” is the announcement when you get to your selected decision height.

Glideslope and Localiser: the FPA-80 informs all in the cockpit in a calm, measured tone, of any ILS deviation beyond pre-defined limits during approach.

It goes rather like this; if a localiser frequency is tuned, NOT in back localiser mode, gear is down, radio altitude is between 700 and 200ft and the aircraft deviates more than one dot from the localiser, you’d expect to hear, “Localiser, Localiser, Localiser,” from the cockpit speaker.

The same thing happens if you deviate more than one dot from glideslope, only this time the message is, “Glideslope, Glideslope, Glideslope. ”

Trim and attitude: if your dual-trim monitors indicate a trim failure, the FPA-80 tell you about it by announcing. “Check trim, check trim, check trim. ”

If pitch and roll monitors detect a difference in attitude between the attitude systems, or an extreme bank angle (greater than 52 degrees), you will hear, “Check attitude, check attitude, check attitude,” from the FPA-80.

Barometric altitude deviation: the warning is once again simple, direct and thrice-spoken. Deviations from pre-selected baro height of more than 300ft result in, “Check baro altitude. ”

Landing gear: enough has been written about landing gear forgetfulness to fill the nation’s wreckers’ yards. But it still happens.

With the FPA-80 in operation, the first aural check of, “Check gear, Check gear, Check gear,” comes when the aircraft is below 500ft and descending, with the gear tucked up in its wells.

This warning is repeated at 100ft inter- vals as the aircraft descends and goes on telling you that you haven’t unfolded the legs until you trip the toggle and get the things dangling where they should be by this time.

All this and more. . .

Thanks to its electronic brain, the Collins can sort out the priority of alarms and alerts.

Cedar Rapids tells us that the order of announcements goes this way; decision height, radio altitude, glideslope, localiser, trim, attitude, barometric height, and landing legs.

For example, if the aircraft wanders from glideslope and localiser at the same time, the voice in your ear would announce, “Glidescope, Localiser. . . glideslope, localiser. . . glideslope, localiser. ” If you get off the glideslope and localiser, and trigger the trim warning by a malfunction at the same time, the message is, “Glideslope, localiser. . . glideslope, localiser, check trim. . . glideslope, localiser, check trim. . . check trim. ”

Of course, in all cases, correcting the announced error re-arms the black box and its voice to get going again.

We haven’t yet been informed on availability in Australia, price, or acceptance by Transport Australia. But it’s a pound to a pinch of snuff that this type of aural checklist will be accepted by most people as being an essential adjunct to safe and responsible flying.