MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT
HISTORY OF AVIONICS
THE FIRST WORLD WAR BROUGHT ABOUT AN URGENT NEED FOR
COMMUNICATIONS
1914 – FIRST TWO WAY RADIO CONTACT BETWEEN PILOT AND GROUND
CONTROL (GROUND ENGINEER)
MARCH 3, 1915 – NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF AERONATUICS
(NACA) SUPPORT THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AVIATION
EVOLUTION
1916-1917 – BEGINNING OF USAGE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE WHEN
CURTISS JN JENNY SERIES AIRCRAFT WAS DESIGNED
1930S - FIRST ALL RADIO-CONTROLLED BLIND-LANDING WAS
ACCOMPLISHED
1940S - WORLD WAR II INJECTED URGENCY INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
AIRCRAFT RADIO COMMUNICATION AND NAVIGATION
DERIVED FROM AVIATION AND ELECTRONICS = “AVIONICS”
PHILLIP J. KLASS, SENIOR EDITOR AT AVIATION WEEK & SPACE
TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE, FIRST USED THIS TERM IN 1949
IMPORTANCE OF AVIONICS
USEFUL TO PILOTS IN NEARLY EVERY ASPECT OF FLYING, FROM FLIGHT
PLANNING TO SAFE TAKEOFF AND CRUISE TO LANDING
INCLUDES WEATHER RADAR, FLIGHT RECORDERS, AND POTENTIAL
THREAT DETECTION WHICH ARE VITAL DURING FLIGHT
MAKES AVIATION SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENT
PROMOTES SITUATIONAL AWARENESS THROUGH COMMUNICATION OF
AIR AND GROUND CREWS DURING FLIGHT
HELP PILOTS MANAGE THE DEMANDS OF FLYING AN AIRCRAFT AND CAN
BE UTILIZED TO ASSIST PILOTS DURING ALL PHASES OF FLIGHT MAKE
BETTER-INFORMED JUDGMENTS
BASIC RADIO COMPONENTS
ANTENNA: ALLOWS A RADIO TO PICK UP SIGNALS BEING BROADCAST
INTO THE AIR AROUND IT
AMPLIFIER: BOOSTS THE STRENGTH OF THE RADIO SIGNAL
MIKAELARAE D. GERMAN BSAEE 3-5
CAPACITORS: STORE AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE AND ALLOW
ALTERNATING CURRENT TO FLOW THROUGH AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT
BUT PREVENT DIRECT CURRENT FROM FLOWING IN THE SAME CIRCUIT
COILS AND TRANSFORMERS: INSULATE A CIRCUIT WHILE
TRANSFERRING ENERGY FROM ONE CIRCUIT TO ANOTHER.
DIODE: ACTS AS A SWITCH TO BLOCK PART OF THE ELECTRICAL
CURRENT
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT: HOUSES THOUSANDS OF RESISTORS,
CAPACITORS, AND TRANSISTORS INTO A SMALL AND COMPACT
PACKAGE CALLED A CHIP
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD: CONSISTS OF COPPER-PLAD PATTERN
CEMENTED TO PHENOLIC BOARD THAT REPLACES MOST OF THE
WIWING USED IN EARLIER RADIOS
RESISTOR: CONSISTS OF CARBON FILM DEPOSITED ON A CYLINDRICAL
SUBSTRATE WITH WIRE LEADS MADE OF COPPER THAT LIMITS THE
FLOW OF ELECTRICITY
SPEAKERS: RECEIVES THE ELECTRICAL CURRENT AND CONVERTS IT
TO SOUND WAVES
TRANSISTORS: CONTROLS THE FLOW OF ELECTRICITY IN A CIRCUIT
AVIATION RADIO NAVIGATION
AIRCRAFT VOR (VERY HIGH FREQUENCY OMNI-DIRECTIONAL RANGE)
NAVIGATION SYSTEM - TYPE OF SHORT-RANGE RADIO NAVIGATION
SYSTEM FOR AIRCRAFT, ENABLING AIRCRAFT WITH A RECEIVING
UNIT TO DETERMINE ITS POSITION AND STAY ON COURSE BY
RECEIVING RADIO SIGNALS TRANSMITTED BY A NETWORK OF FIXED
GROUND RADIO BEACONS
AIRCRAFT AUTOMATIC DIRECTION FINDER (ADF) - OPERATES OFF OF
A GROUND SIGNAL TRANSMITTED FROM A NON-DIRECTIONAL
BEACON. IT IS AN ON-BOARD EQUIPMENT THAT DETERMINES THE
RELATIVE BEARING (RB) FROM THE AIRCRAFT TO THE GROUND
BEACON OR STATION.
AIRCRAFT RADIO MAGNETIC INDICATOR (RMI) - WAS MADE TO AND
TO BE INSTALLED ON AIRCRAFTS IS SO THAT IT COULD
COMPENSATE FOR ERRORS IN AND THE LIMITATIONS OF OLDER
TYPES OF HEADING INDICATORS
DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT (DME) – DEFINED AS A
NAVIGATION BEACON, USUALLY COUPLED WITH A VOR BEACON, TO
ENABLE AIRCRAFT TO MEASURE THEIR POSITION RELATIVE TO
THAT BEACON
MIKAELARAE D. GERMAN BSAEE 3-5
INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM (ILS) - A PRECISION RUNWAY
APPROACH AID WHICH PROVIDES PILOTS WITH BOTH VERTICAL AND
HORIZONTAL GUIDANCE DURING AN APPROACH TO LAND
AIRCRAFT AREA NAVIAGTION (RNAV) - METHOD OF INSTRUMENT
FLIGHT RULES (IFR) NAVIGATION THAT ALLOWS AN AIRCRAFT TO
CHOOSE ANY COURSE WITHIN A NETWORK OF NAVIGATION
BEACONS, RATHER THAN NAVIGATE DIRECTLY TO AND FROM THE
BEACONS
RADIO ALTIMETER - AIRBORNE ELECTRONIC DEVICE CAPABLE OF
MEASURING THE HEIGHT OF THE AIRCRAFT ABOVE TERRAIN
IMMEDIATELY BELOW THE AIRCRAFT
TRAFFIC COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) - ALSO KNOWN AS
A TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM, IS A SYSTEM
DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF MID-AIR COLLISION (MAC)
BETWEEN AIRCRAFTS
ON-BOARD COMMUNICATION
INTERPHONE SYSTEM ALLOWS THE FLIGHT CREW TO COMMUNICATE WITH
FLIGHT ATTENDANT OR GROUND PERSONNEL
FLIGHT INTERPHONE SYSTEM: - PERMITS INTERCOMMUNICATIONS
BETWEEN FLIGHT DECK CREW MEMBERS AND, ON THE GROUND, WITH
GROUND PERSONNEL.
SERVICE INTERPHONE SYSTEM - ENABLES COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
THE COCKPIT AND THE CABIN CREW STATIONS AND THE MAINTENANCE
SERVICE AREAS
CABIN INTERPHONE SYSTEM - PROVIDES VOICE COMMUNICATIONS
BETWEEN THE FLIGHT DECK AND THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT STATIONS
MIKAELARAE D. GERMAN BSAEE 3-5
