An acceptable way to use aeronautics textbooks?

[Sparweb]

The debate was going nowhere in the office. Some were convinced that some new equipment could be made to fit in the cockpit center console by widening the console. Others had doubts that the console could be widened that much. The new equipment would add capability to the aircraft, so worth investigating ways to make it fit in the center console. Looking down from above on drawings of the console, widening it by 3/4" or even 1 full inch didn't look like a problem.

This is one of those times where a few minutes sitting in the aircraft to sort it out will save hours of dithering in the office. So I picked up a suitably sized rectangular object to represent the size of the console expansion needed to fit the new equipment. Had one handy on my desk. Took that with me into the aircraft cockpit and held it in place to demonstrate to my accomplice just how much space the console expansion would take. Snapped a photo:

Probably not a usage Dr. Roskam had in mind.
I hope he would approve.

http://www.sparweb.ca

 

[Andries]

Sparweb,

Dr Roskam owes you. You have given him free publicity for his book.

Regards,

Andries

 

[rb1957]

yes, we (also in the mod business) call that "arts and crafts" … a practical solution to not having all the data … we can accomplish a lot with a cardboard mock-up.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[WKTaylor]

SW... clever, very clever... and to the point!

Unfortunately looks like the crew right foot/leg might be impeded by the added console width. Pedal [control] operation and emergency escape are usually considered top-priority critical.

Could 'The new equipment' be turned 90-deg to 'better-fit' the console? IE; turn the unit sideways for a narrow/taller profile instead of a wider/shorter profile? Most avionics are relatively adaptable to re-orientation. Just saying...

WKTaylor Drifting off topic... again... with a war-story...

Obviously if this crew station has an ejection seat, the situation can be made even-more-serious. 'Cockpit ejection seat envelops' require very wide clearance, free of any protruding items/elements which can severely injure a crewman as the seat pulls them out of the Acft. In the 1990s one of 'my' fighter squadrons were allowed to modify a few line-Acft with a wide-angle/reticle 4X hunting-rifle telescope mounted to the right side of the HUD to better visually ID prospective targets. All the pilot had to do was lean forward a bit, get a 'quick-look', then take appropriate action. It was simple and worked very effectively for THAT purpose. HOWEVER, when I spotted this 'odd-mod' one afternoon, I pointed-out that the end-of-the-rifle-scope protruded-out from the top of the glare shield [so the pilot could get 'close-enough' to the reticle]... so-much-so that most pilots would 'catch-it' with their right booted-foot during an ejection... making a 'bad-day' even worse-day... unless the scope was designed to fail-safely-out-of-the-way when kicked-violently as the pilot was 'going-up the rails'. The ALC and OEM ejection seat engineers were unaware that this 'field test scope-mod' protruded into their sacred ejection-seat envelop... and were not pleased... which 'motivated other/similar ideas' to be tried.

Regards, Wil Taylor

o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", Homebuiltairplanes.com forum]

 

[SAITAETGrad]

Apply Triz fundamentals & overcome.

 

[Sparweb]

In fact the idea was for the console extension to reach down to the floor - obvious conflict with the rudder pedal itself. The scope of the project does not justify altering any of the controls or the pilot's freedom of motion.

The better solution is to reconfigure the center console while staying within the envelope that it has. It dictates that we use specific items of equipment in the console. We are replacing obsolete displays, but the life cycle of equipment seems to be getting shorter. The next challenge is to pick new equipment that both (a) fits together and (b) won't be "unfixable" 5 years from now. Since everything you put in the instrument panel needs software these days, that includes firmware updates, map database updates and so on.

This plane has a hatch over the cockpit for emergency egress but I doubt anyone's ever seriously thought about "ejecting" from it! Thanks for the e-seat story, Wil.

Did anyone listen to Dr. Roskam's webinar today? Cessna, Beech and Piper were today's topic.

https://www.enrole.com/kupce/jsp/index.jsp?categoryId=10008

http://www.sparweb.ca

 

[WKTaylor]

SW... Electrical/electronics [components/Assys/black-boxes] obsolescence is a MAJOR issue for DoD.

From an EE-EL bibliography I've been accumulating... for what it's worth...

STRATEGIES TO THE PREDICTION, MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PRODUCT OBSOLESCENCE ISBN 1118140648
DOT/FAA/TC-15/33 OBSOLESCENCE AND LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT FOR AVIONICS
ARINC 662 STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS ELECTRONIC COMPONENT OBSOLESCENCE IN COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT
IEC 62402 OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT - APPLICATION GUIDE
IEEE AESS SUMMIT 2011 AGING AIRCRAFT AND OBSOLETE AVIONICS ewh.ieee.org/r2/wash_nova/aess/IB-Aging-Aircraft-and-Obsolete-Avionics.ppt
MSFC-STD-3620 MSFC ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, AND ELECTROMECHANICAL (EEE) PARTS OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL REQUIREMENTS
NATO STANAG 4597 OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT
AFRL-ML-WP-TR-2001-4077 PARTS OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT TOOLS (POMT)
AFRL-ML-WP-TR-2004-4104 APPLICATION OF COMMERCIAL PARTS OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT (CPOM )
AFRL-ML-WP-TR-2005-4012 PARTS OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION (POMTT)
AU/ACSC/02-103/2002-4 COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS TOOLS FOR AVIONICS PARTS OBSOLESCENCE
DSTO-TR-2437 A SURVEY OF ELECTRONICS OBSOLESCENCE AND RELIABILITY
ICOAF THESIS DIMINISHING MANUFACTURING SOURCES AND MATERIAL SHORTAGES: SOLUTIONS TO OBSOLESCENCE IN MICROCIRCUITS

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a331473.pdf

IDA DOC NS D-5483 OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT FOR STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, AND ELECTRICAL ITEMS IN CONJUNCTION WITH ELECTRONICS

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a627527.pdf

ISU THESIS [2015] SELECTION OF OBSOLESCENCE RESOLUTION STRATEGY BASED ON A MULTI CRITERIA DECISION MODEL
NATO RTO-MP-72 STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE OBSOLESCENCE IN DEFENSE SYSTEMS USING COMMERCIAL COMPONENTS
NPGS UM THESIS THESIS MICROELECTRONIC OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT
UM THESIS ELECTRONIC PART OBSOLESCENCE (LIFE CYCLE MISMATCH)

Regards, Wil Taylor

o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", Homebuiltairplanes.com forum]

 

[Sparweb]

OK... wow.
There's a technical discipline that will never be out of date...
ha sorry I had to, I really did.

http://www.sparweb.ca

 

[VEBill]

Increasingly, new avionics systems have one foot in the obsolescence grave before they're even fitted to the fleet; and they need a gaggle of staff just to keep the software endlessly updated. Meanwhile, the legacy systems designed in the early-1980s or earlier can typically be supported until the end of time.

There are solutions to these sorts of issues, but too few have hoisted aboard the necessary design concepts.

---

Circa 1951 (!), Arthur C Clarke wrote a short story titled 'Superiority' that warned us of the possible downsides of high tech. There's a copy on-line somewhere.

 

[WKTaylor]

V... RE ACC story 'Superiority'...

Is that the short story that starts in an alien POW camp for earthling captives? The earthling POW is recalling how 'we' lost the interstellar war against a race of aliens that were initially inferior 'us'.

Earth started with strong/mature conventional space-forces that were attrited in-favor of building up revolutionary war-fighting technologies that ultimately proved 'unstable', too-costly and took way-too-long to mature. As a result, the built-up conventional forces of the aliens finally overwhelmed earth's total [conventional and advanced] defenses which had been allowed to diminish in quantity and quality... while waiting [unrealistically-hoping] for the magic of technology to prevail?

...as I remember it...?

"Better-than is the enemy of good-enough." -Russian proverb

"Irresponsibility. No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood." [motivation poster]

Regards, Wil Taylor

o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", Homebuiltairplanes.com forum]

 

[VEBill]

WKT: It's not Earth as such, but two civilizations that were at war in the galaxy. Yes, the 'author' is POW post-conflict. The format is an 8-page letter to the court requesting a different cell-mate, for the reasons outlined in the letter. There seems to be a copy on-line.

 

[rb1957]

I can remember that, though I remember it more as a "parable" rather then a full story.

One side, presumably with fewer population, invested more and more in technology that will be so superior as to defeat the opposition. But the technology whilst initially successful, kept developing fatal flaws leading to new technology. The opposition on the other hand played to their strength, their population, and absorbed losses but kept with low tech, proven solutions.

yes, having scanned the AAC story it seems to be the same as my recollection.

As I write this, I hear "F35" going off in my mind !?

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?