AeroElectric-List Digest Archive

Sun 08/24/14


Total Messages Posted: 3



Today's Message Index:
----------------------
 
     1. 08:11 AM - The cost/benefit ratio for automation  (Robert L. Nuckolls, III)
     2. 07:27 PM - Re: Z-19 Function (Justin Jones)
     3. 09:33 PM - Re: Z-19 Function (jonlaury)
 
 
 


Message 1


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    Time: 08:11:03 AM PST US
    From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" <nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com>
    Subject: The cost/benefit ratio for automation
    > > I have had an in flight fuel starvation event that was not > resolved until after a no power landing which was successful. I > know from that experience that a fog of confusion came over me and > after replaying the event in my mind, I could not recall the point > that the aux fuel pump was turned on. I had been through the drill > many times to simulate an engine out emergency but I know for me > when it actually happened, I did not perform as well as I > could/should have. An automatic switching to the aux fuel pump > could potentially take care of a problem without me having to > remember to do it in the event of the fog. Of course I would want > some indication of the switch occurring. Airplanes, the individuals who ride in them and the circumstances of environment through which the flight system moves offers infinite combinations of variables. Some combinations add up in ways that increase risk, others will stack up in ways that reduce risk. The core process for risk reduction is the failure modes effects analysis. The oft repeated litany of questions to be asked/answered are: In what ways can this component fail? How will that failure manifest? Does failure create a condition from which recovery is difficult/impossible? Can the failure "hide"? In other words, can the failure exist behind an inability or unwillingness to pre-flight test for integrity? If this failure has a high order of criticality, what steps can be taken to reduce criticality and/or back it up? Since the dawn of aviation, designers, builders and operators of airplanes have wrestled with these questions. In some venues, individuals who know-more-about-airplanes-than-anybody have decreed certain behaviors under force and penalty of law. In every case, the justification for a proactive activity has been to "Make airplanes SAFE for children and all living things." Something we need to accept from square-one is that there is no such thing as a SAFE airplane. Like chain saws, automobiles, ladders, lawn mowers ladles full of molten steel . . . they are simply tools. Used within the boundaries of acceptable risk, they can add a great deal to the quality of life . . . bump those boundaries and life can become less than ideal . . . or get terminated. It is an inarguable fact that the pilot is a core component of the flight system. Pilots are human . . . subject by some degree to all of human-kinds weaknesses including ignorance and ease of distraction. As complexity of the mission grows, weak links in pilots inexorably drives up risk. There have been countless experiences shared over suds and burgers (or Internet forums) that cite close calls. I have skated onto thin ice more times than I would like to recall . . . EACH instance involved a distraction from my training and an abrogation of duty to first be a pilot . . . insofar as possible, be one with my machine. The benefits to be gained from automation are inarguable. Mooney proved this many years ago with their Positive Control feature that was, for a time, standard in all production airplanes. This was a vacuum servoed wing leveler that was ON at all times. The device could be momentarily shut off by depressing a button on the control yoke. Alternatively, control forces exerted by the pressure limited servos were so light that the pilot could maneuver the airplane at will whereupon automatic wing leveling would resume as soon as he turned loose of the wheel. What an elegant concept. How many lives and airframes might have been saved if the Mooney PC concept was standard equipment? At the same time, how would skills of the family of pilots be diluted by the existence of such systems in ALL production aircraft? I would not advise anyone to eschew some move to 'upgrade' the level of technology in their airplane. At the same time, be cognizant of your first duty as builder, system integrator and ultimately operator of the machine to consider both the GAINS to be realized from the upgrade. Consider the potential for LOSSES that may add more risk than you gained with the transistors. Some innocuous thing like automatic pump control does not occur in a vacuum. The little splash of technology on the panel has ripple that radiate outward . . . the effects of such ripples may be small but are never zero. Technology places a pilot in a kind of soft 'vise' being squeezed from one side by a willingness to abrogate risk reduction to some piece of technology while being squashed from the other side by a little chip of silicon. Any failure in an array of 10,000 transistors reduces the chip's value to less than that of pebble on the beach. Without a doubt, technology has offered quantum jumps in risk reduction for operations while adding new risks in terms of both physical failure of hardware and psychological failure of gray matter. That vise squeezes oxygen from the brain's situational awareness and common sense centers. Allowed to progress without restraint and we witness events like a cockpit full of pilots flying a 777 full of people into the seawall on a CAVU approach . . . or another cockpit full of pilots flying an L-1011 into the swamp while chasing a light bulb failure. Can anyone say "driverless cars"? I will suggest that the infinite combinations of variables I cited at the opening of this missive is best managed by educated and attentive gray matter . . . aided by things like check-lists. Bob . . .


    Message 2


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    Time: 07:27:02 PM PST US
    From: Justin Jones <jmjones2000@mindspring.com>
    Subject: Re: Z-19 Function
    Bob, I have been looking at the Z-13/8 Diagram and have a few questions. With a Dual ECU, Dual COIL, and Dual Fuel Pump system (primary and secondary), is it recommended to use the 4-rectifier Diode bridge and dual feed all items from both the battery bus and the E-Bus (or main bus)? Or is it acceptable to wire the Primary components to one bus and the Secondary components to the other bus? Thanks! Justin On Aug 22, 2014, at 8:50 AM, Ken Ryan <keninalaska@gmail.com> wrote: > With FlyEFII's Bus Manager/Relay system when a loss of pressure is detected (because of a voltage drop from the pressure sensor) the main pump is switched off and the auxiliary pump is switched on, along with their corresponding indicator lights. > > I would be interested in Robert Nuckoll's evaluation of this system with regards to reliability of keeping the fuel pumps pumping. PDF attached. > > > On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 6:15 AM, Ed meyer <ed.meyer@outlook.com> wrote: > >Why automatic? Describe the flight configuration under which such a >system would benefit you as a pilot. > I have had an in flight fuel starvation event that was not resolved until after a no power landing which was successful. I know from that experience that a fog of confusion came over me and after replaying the event in my mind, I could not recall the point that the aux fuel pump was turned on. I had been through the drill many times to simulate an engine out emergency but I know for me when it actually happened, I did not perform as well as I could/should have. An automatic switching to the aux fuel pump could potentially take care of a problem without me having to remember to do it in the event of the fog. Of course I would want some indication of the switch occurring. > > > > ist" target="_blank">http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List > tp://forums.matronics.com > _blank">http://www.matronics.com/contribution > > > <Bus_Manager_Installation_Instructions.pdf>


    Message 3


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    Time: 09:33:55 PM PST US
    Subject: Re: Z-19 Function
    From: "jonlaury" <jonlaury@impulse.net>
    My post got scrambled. Hoping to have better luck this time. I wrote: Ed, I had suggested a similar "foolproof" system to Bob N when installing my EFI system. And he responded the same as he responded to you. What benefit is there to have the system be "automatic"? When I thought about it, I had to conclude that it just seemed cool. So, with that, laziness kicked in and I found a sense of relief that I didn't have to figure out another sub-system for my one-off Glasair/Franklin CDI ignition, EFI, installation. Then on first flight/take-off, I had an engine sputtering at 800'. Because I was in the TO phase, TO/ Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=429251#429251




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