Glass cockpit
Electronic flight displays replace traditional analog gauges in cockpits.
A glass cockpit replaces the traditional array of analog dials and gauges—often called "steam gauges"—with electronic digital displays, typically large LCD screens. Instead of numerous mechanical instruments, these cockpits use multi-function displays and a primary flight display, all driven by flight management systems that pilots can adjust to show the most relevant information. This setup simplifies flying and navigation, letting pilots concentrate on key data. Airlines favor glass cockpits because they remove the need for a flight engineer, cutting costs. In recent years, this technology has also become common in smaller aircraft.
As cockpit displays evolved, so did the sensors feeding them. Older gyroscopic flight instruments gave way to electronic attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) and air data computers (ADCs), which are more reliable, cheaper, and require less maintenance. GPS receivers are now typically integrated into glass cockpits.
Early glass cockpits, seen in models like the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, Boeing 737 Classic, ATR 42 and 72, Airbus A300-600, and A310, used electronic flight instrument systems (EFIS) only for attitude and navigation data, while keeping traditional mechanical gauges for airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and engine performance. The Boeing 757 and 767 (-200 and -300) introduced an electronic engine-indicating and crew-alerting system (EICAS) for engine monitoring but still retained mechanical gauges for airspeed, altitude, and vertical speed.
Later glass cockpits, found in aircraft such as the Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767-400, 777, Airbus A320 and later Airbuses, Ilyushin Il-96, and Tupolev Tu-204, fully replaced mechanical gauges and warning lights. While late-20th-century glass cockpit aircraft still kept analog altimeters, attitude indicators, and airspeed indicators as backups in case the EFIS failed, more modern planes increasingly use digital standby instruments, like the integrated standby instrument system.
**History**
Glass cockpits first appeared in military aircraft in the late 1960s and early 1970s. An early example was the Mark II avionics of the F-111D, ordered in 1967 and delivered from 1970 to 1973, which featured a multi-function display.
- Early examples
- McDonnell Douglas MD-80, Boeing 737 Classic, ATR 42, ATR 72, Airbus A300-600, A310
- Later examples
- Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767-400, 777, Airbus A320, later Airbuses, Ilyushin Il-96, Tupolev Tu-204
- First light aircraft with glass cockpit
- Cirrus Design SR20 and SR22 (2003)
- Military origin
- F-111D Mark II avionics (first ordered 1967, delivered 1970-1973)
- Spacecraft use
- NASA Space Shuttle orbiters Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, Endeavour; Russian Soyuz TMA model (first launched 2002)
Lore & Background
Glass cockpits originated in military aircraft in the late 1960s and early 1970s; an early example is the Mark II avionics of the F-111D (first ordered in 1967, delivered from 1970 to 1973), which featured a multi-function display. Prior to the 1970s, air transport operations were not considered sufficiently demanding to require advanced equipment like electronic flight displays, and computer technology was not at a level where sufficiently light and powerful electronics were available. The increasing complexity of transport aircraft, the advent of digital systems and the growing air traffic congestion around airports began to change that. The Boeing 2707 was one of the earliest commercial aircraft designed with a glass cockpit, but it was cancelled in 1971. NASA conducted research on displays that could process raw aircraft system and flight data into an integrated, easily understood picture of the flight situation, culminating in a series of flights demonstrating a full glass cockpit system. By the end of the 1990s, liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels were increasingly favored among aircraft manufacturers because of their efficiency, reliability and legibility. Earlier LCD panels suffered from poor legibility at some viewing angles and poor response times, making them unsuitable for aviation.
Reader's Guide
The glass cockpit has become standard equipment in airliners, business jets, and military aircraft. It was fitted into NASA's Space Shuttle orbiters Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour, and the Russian Soyuz TMA model spacecraft that were launched for the first time in 2002. By the end of the century glass cockpits began appearing in general aviation aircraft as well. In 2003, Cirrus Design's SR20 and SR22 became the first light aircraft equipped with glass cockpits, which they made standard on all Cirrus aircraft. By 2005, even basic trainers like the Piper Cherokee and Cessna 172 were shipping with glass cockpits as options (which nearly all customers chose), as well as many modern utility aircraft such as the Diamond DA42. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II features a 'panoramic cockpit display' touchscreen that replaces most of the switches and toggles found in an aircraft cockpit. The civilian Cirrus Vision SF50 has the same, which they call a 'Perspective Touch' glass cockpit. Modern glass cockpits might include synthetic vision systems (SVS) or enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS). All new airliners such as the Airbus A380, Boeing 787 and private jets such as Bombardier Global Express and Learjet use glass cockpits. The safety and efficiency of flights have been increased with improved pilot understanding of the aircraft's situation relative to its environment (or 'situational awareness').
Did You Know?
- The F-111D, first ordered in 1967, featured an early glass cockpit with a multi-function display.
- The Space Shuttle Atlantis was the first orbiter retrofitted with a glass cockpit.
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