Script Document

Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

Lesson Introduction
Welcome to the 777 Flight Instruments Lesson by Angle of Attack. In aviation, there are a ton of acronyms,
especially flight instruments. After studying this section, you will impress all of your aviation friends throwing
around terms like ADIRU, CDS, and PFD (and actually knowing what they mean). Lets J-U-M-P into this lesson.
We will talk about the following topics:

Common Display System (CDS)

Air Data Inertial Reference System (ADIRS)
Display Units (DUs)
Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) Control Panels
Multi-Function Display (MFD) Controls
Electronic Checklist (ECL)
Primary Flight Display (PFD)
Standby Instruments and Clock
Navigation Display (ND)

Lets start by learning about the Common Display System and its controls.

Common Display System

The Common Display System or CDS, provides information for the safe operation of the aircraft. This information
comes in several different formats:

Primary Flight Display (PFD)

Navigation Display (ND)
Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS)
Multi-Function Display (MFD)

The CDS presents information in the modern speed tape and altitude tape formats only.

Air Data Inertial Reference System

The Air Data Inertial Reference System (ADIRS) is a fancy name for the brains or computer, if you will, that takes
aircraft sensor data and processes it to show you things such as airspeed, altitude, position, and attitude. In
other words, it provides primary, secondary, and standby air data as well as inertial information to the display
management computers.
The major components of the ADIRS system are the
Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU)
Secondary Attitude Air Data Reference Unit (SAARU)
Eight air data modules
Six static ports

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

Three pitot probes

Two angle-of-attack vanes
One total air temperature probe.

The ADIRU is the main source of speed, altitude, attitude, and inertial navigation position information. The
ADIRU receives its information from internal gyros and accelerometers as well as air data module inputs, AOA
vanes, and other systems. The SAARU provides redundancy to the ADIRU. It also provides primary roll and
pitch attitude information to the standby attitude display. However, the SAARU does not provide navigational
positional data.

Display Units (DUs)

The next CDS component we will discuss is the actual screen in the flight deck called Display Units or DUs. The
DUs are full color, high resolution, active matrix, liquid crystal displays. The DUs are similar to your flat panel
computer screen or TV. However, they are a bit more rugged in that they are equipped with temperature
compensation for screen viewing at a wide variety of temperatures. The DUs display graphical information
processed from the display management computers. These graphics are presented on six screens known as the:

Captain Outboard Display Unit

Captain Inboard Display Unit
Upper Display Unit
First Officer Outboard Display Unit
First Officer Inboard Display Unit
Lower Display Unit

To change the brightness of all displays at once, use the MASTER BRIGHTNESS control. This controls all panel
and display lighting. In addition, each display has an individual control with a limited range of control as long as
the master brightness is on. The individual controls will, however, have full control with the master brightness
control off. On the top of the left and right glareshield, there are two remote light sensors that measure cockpit
brightness and adjust PFD brightness as well as other secondary screens brightness. Additionally, each display
unit has its own individual sensor that automatically adjusts each individual screens brightness.
In case of a display unit fault, normally the display system automatically selects the good source of data for the
display and discards the faulty source data.
If the bad screen is not discarded automatically, the 777 is equipped with Instrument source select switches for
the PFD and ND displays. The non-normal ATLN or CDU position allows the pilot to manually select PFD and
ND sources.
For example, to change the Captains Inboard Display Unit to the PFD, select PFD on the INBOARD DSPL
selector. Note: This will blank the left Outboard Display. Just as normal, the left Electronic Flight Instrument
System (EFIS) control panel will control the PFD. Also important to note, once the Display Selector is moved
from MFD, the selector position alone determines what is displayed on that respective screen.

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

The center panel also has a display source switch which allows the ND to be positioned on the lower display
panel. As a backup to what we just discussed, the aircraft has an additional feature of display unit switching on
the FMC CDU. You can check out this feature in Flightwork.

EFIS Control Panels

The EFIS control panels are located on the left and right glareshield. They give individual control to each pilots
PFD and ND screens.
Each EFIS panel is divided into two areas:
The upper MINS, BARO, FPV, and MTRS switch control the respective sides PFD screen while the lower half
map functions control the respective sides ND display. For now, here is a basic overview of each knob and
button, as well as their function.
First, well start with the PFD EFIS controls:
Minimums (MINS) Reference Selector- The outer function of this knob allows you to choose whether to
use aircraft height above the ground or barometric altitude for the PFD approach minimums reference.
The middle knob of this selector allows you to actually change this altitude. To reset a MINS altitude alert
or blank the MINS, simply push the inner portion of this knob.
Flight Path Vector (FPV) switch- Simply said, pushing this displays the aircrafts flight path vector on the
PFD.
Meters (MTRS) switch- This is basically a toggle switch to change the PFD altitude readout from feet to
meters.
Barometric (BARO) Selector- This knob serves three purposes in that it allows you to change the altimeter
setting, reset to standard altimeter, and toggle between Inches of Mercury or Hectopascals.
Next, here are the ND EFIS controls:
ND Mode Selector: This control selects the format and type of information displayed on the ND DU.
Pushing the inner part of the mode selector displays a full compass rose for every mode except PLN.
Pushing the inner part again toggles between expanded and centered displays. Here is a brief description
of each ND Mode:
o The APP or Approach mode displays localizer and glideslope information, as well as the tuned ILS
frequency or ident, course and DME in a heading up format. Weather radar and TCAS is not
displayed in this mode.
o The VOR mode has the same characteristics as the APP mode except VOR information is
displayed instead of localizer and glideslope information. Again, no weather radar or TCAS
overlay is available.
o The MAP mode is the most commonly used ND display mode. It displays the magenta FMC route
as well as any selected map overlays. Aircraft position, heading, track, and VNAV path deviation
is also on the MAP display.

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

The PLN or Plan mode is mainly used to check an initially inputted FMC route, enroute modified
FMC route, or terminal procedures by stepping through the CDU legs page. A non-moving, true
north up route is displayed in this mode. No weather or TCAS overlays are available in this mode.
The VOR/ADF Switches toggle between showing VOR, ADF, or neither (in the OFF position) information
on the ND display. This function works for all ND modes except PLN.
As you probably guessed, the ND range selector outer knob allows the pilot to select the desired range of
the respective ND. The inner part of this knob is labelled TFC or traffic. Pressing this displays TCAS
information on the ND in the MAP mode.
Finally, at the very bottom of the EFIS control panel are the Map Switches also known as map overlays.
While most are fairly self-explanatory, we will cover each overlay option briefly:
o WXR or weather radar overlays weather radar information on the ND Map mode.
o STA displays high and low Nav Aids at 10 to 40 nautical mile ND ranges. At more than 40 nautical
miles, only high altitude Nav Aids are displayed.
o WPT displays computer waypoints as long as the ND range is set to 40 nautical miles or less.
o ARPT displays airports at all ND ranges.
o DATA shows FMC information above each route waypoint such as ETA, altitude, and altitude
constraints.
o POS or position shows the ADIRU and GPS computed positions. Raw data is also displayed from
the nose of the aircraft to VOR radials.
o TERR or Terrain shows terrain data.
o

MFD Controls
One of the neatest and most modern features of the 777 is its Cursor Control Device. This control is almost the
same as your typical laptop cursor touchpad. Each pilot has their own touchpad. The left touchpad controls the
cursor on either the left Inboard Display or more commonly the upper MFD display. The right controls the cursor
of the right Inboard Display or more commonly the lower MFD display.
A nice trick of the cursor control is that if you want to access a specific corner of the screen you are working on,
simply tap that corner of the touch pad. The cursor is automatically positioned in that corner.
Another neat feature of this system is it predicts what screen you will need a cursor for. If you select a screen
such as a checklist, maintenance function, or communications display, an unused cursor will move to that screen.
Similarly, if you are on a screen that does not have a cursor function, the cursor will disappear.

Electronic Checklist (ECL)

While we are on the subject of the cursor, lets discuss in more detail the added feature to the 777 of the
Electronic Checklists or ECL. In an attempt to prevent us pilots from straining to read coffee stained, origami
folded checklists, the 777 displays normal and non-normal checklists on the MFD. While you still have to have
that old paper checklist for dispatch, a lot of pilots prefer this new system because of a few nice features we will
discuss.

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

First, when you flip the checklist display switch on the display select panel, the aircraft decides the appropriate
checklist to display. Obviously, if a non-normal condition exists, the appropriate non-normal checklist will appear
first before the normal checklist. When you have a checklist displayed and want to mark an item as done, just
like a computer, move the cursor to the appropriate checkbox and click inside it. The specific checklist item text
will change from white to green and the line item box will move down to the next item. Sometimes, boxes will
already be checked as done when the aircraft senses you have completed certain items.
Sometimes, for special situations such as a maintenance deferred item, you will not be able to complete all of the
items in a checklist. For this, there is an ITEM OVRD key at the bottom of each checklist page. When you
select this, the specific item changes from white to cyan and the next item in the checklist is queued up. In
addition, you may need to override an entire checklist for the moment such as doing a single engine taxi at a real
busy airport. To do this select the CHKL OVRD key at the bottom of the checklist display page. In this case, all
of the checklist will turn from white to cyan and CHECKLIST OVERRIDDEN text will display at the bottom of the
display screen so you do not forget you skipped that checklist. When all of the items on a specific checklist are
complete, skipped, or overridden, CHECKLIST COMPLETE is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
For certain situations such as a go-around, checklists are automatically reset. If the need ever arises to manually
reset a checklist (such as in the case of a rejected takeoff), there is a CHKL RESET key at the bottom of the
checklist display page.
The last item on Electronic Checklists we will cover is Inhibited Checklist Items. Sometimes, hopefully not often,
you will be having a very bad day with multiple associated system failures. Items on one non-normal checklist
might not make sense with the overall problem. For example sake, lets say the generator drive oil pressure is
low and you get the ELEC GEN DRIVE L EICAS message. When you do this checklist, you will disconnect a
generator which will pop up an ELEC GEN OFF EICAS message as well. In this case, the aircraft is smart in that
it removes the ELEC GEN OFF non-normal checklist from the checklist queue. The checklist icon is also
removed from the ELEC GEN OFF EICAS message.
This concludes our discussion on Electric Checklists. You will get to experience them more and learn-by-doing
during Flightwork.

Primary Flight Display (PFD)

As we discussed before, on the 777, the primary flight display is in the speed and altitude tape format. One of the
major advantages to this method is all of your primary flight data that would be contained in a classic six pack is
displayed in one spot which greatly simplifies your instrument scan. In this section, we will break down how to
interpret the digital PFD.

Flight Mode Annunciator (FMA)

The flight mode annunciator or FMA at the top of the PFD shows what the aircraft flight director is doing in the
pitch and roll axis. It also shows the autothrottles thrust mode and whether or not the autopilot is engaged. We
will discuss this subject in more detail during the Autoflight and FMS section.

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

Attitude
The attitude indicator is one of the key focal points in an instrument scan. Like any other aircraft you have flown,
the attitude indicator in the 777 shows information for the pitch and roll axis in reference to a horizon (hence the
brown ground and blue sky). On the top of the 777 attitude indicator is an arrow called a skypointer. This arrow
will always point up to where the sky is when you roll the aircraft. Just above the skypointer you will notice
several tic marks that represent bank angles of 10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 degrees respectively. When the skypointer
is below one of these reference marks, the aircrafts attitude is currently at that angle of bank. Just below the
skypointer is a small bar that is used to show slip or skid. The goal is to try to keep the bar centered under the
skypointer for coordinated flight. For pitch, you will notice several up and down tic marks spaced at 2.5 degree
increments. When the attitude indicator aircraft symbol is at one of these lines, that is your pitch angle. Another
neat feature of the 777 attitude indicator is the rising runway. This comes into view below 2500 feet AGL while
tracking a localizer. As you are approaching a runway for landing, below your aircraft symbol a rectangular
runway will start rising below 200 feet AGL. This gives you a great reference when transitioning from being in the
soup to making a passenger pleasing visual landing.

Flight Director
While we are on the subject of the attitude indicator, lets briefly talk about the flight director as this subject will be
discussed in more detail in the Autoflight & FMS section. Depending on your air carrier, you will either have a
single or dual cue flight director. The basic idea of the single cue flight director is to have the aircraft symbol hug
underneath the V shaped flight director command bars. In the dual cue system, the goal is to have the center
dot of the aircraft symbol placed where the flight director crosshairs meet. Depending on what mode you have
selected on the FMA will dictate what commands the flight director initiates.

Heading/Track Indications
At the bottom of the PFD is a compass rose section used to show your current and selected heading/track
information. The current aircraft heading is shown under the white pointer at the top of the compass rose. Your
selected heading from the Mode Control Panel (MCP) is shown by a magenta V shaped bug and is numerically
displayed on the left half of the rose if you have the MCP HDG/TRK switch to HDG. The aircrafts current track
over the ground (taking into account winds) is displayed by a white line that pivots from the invisible center of the
indicator. To find out the aircrafts selected track, you can simply look at the magenta triangle bug on the
compass rose or for a numeric indication, switch the MCP HDG/TRK switch to TRK. On the MCP, you are able to
toggle between whether heading/track information is shown in true or magnetic format.

Airspeed
On the left side of the PFD is a rolling digital airspeed tape. The reason this is called a tape is the black box
with a right pointing arrow that shows your current speed stays stationary while the airspeed reference moves up
or down as you change speed. One nice feature of the speed tape system over a traditional round dial airspeed
indicator is the trend indicator. When you are accelerating or decelerating the aircraft, an arrow will appear above
or below your current speed window showing you what speed the aircraft will be at in ten seconds if you do not

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

make any power or flight control changes. This is a very useful feature in a variety of situations including
windshear, landing, and when the autothrottles are off. You will also notice various bugs, tic marks, and
reference speeds on the right side of the tape. Most of these are for takeoff and landing reference speeds. One
important bug to note is the magenta selected airspeed bug. This is the speed you are targeting by manual or
autothrottles. This speed is also show in magenta above the airspeed tape. It is either set manually or by the
Flight Management Computer also known as FMC.
You will notice, depending on selected flap setting and altitude, there will be amber and red barber poles that
move to different positions during flight on the speed tape. These are your caution and warning speed limits
depending on current aircraft configuration. Stay out of these regions as you may damage or stall the aircraft!
When you start accelerating the aircraft in higher altitudes, you will notice a white Mach number is displayed.
This automatically appears at speeds greater than .40 Mach.

Altitude
Another classic 6 pack instrument that is displayed in the tape format is altitude on the right side of the PFD. Like
the airspeed tape, the current altitude is shown digitally in a window with a pointer. MCP manually selected
altitude is shown by a magenta reference bug on the left of the speed tape as well as digitally at the top of the
tape. The barometric altimeter setting is displayed on the bottom of the tape. To help alert the pilot when
approaching a selected altitude, the altitude on top of the tape is boxed. Also on the speed tape you will find a
green arrow with line through an altitude. This is your BARO minimums for an instrument approach. Note: There
is no line through the Barometric altitude tape when Radio minimums are set, makes sense right?
To help warn the pilot that the ground is getting closer when landing, the 777 has a white reference bar starting at
1000 feet AGL transitioning to amber at 500 feet AGL display on the inner edge of the speed tape. Yellow
hatches at the bottom of the speed tape indicate the ground. Hopefully you started your flare by then.
Lastly, aircraft radio altitude above the ground is shown at the bottom of the attitude indicator anytime the aircraft
is below 2,500 AGL.

Vertical Speed
Just to the right of the altitude tape is the vertical speed indicator. This is basically a stationary tape with a pointer
that moves up or down to show aircraft vertical speed. It will show a digital display of vertical speed if the aircraft
is going up or down more than 400 feet per minute. When the autoflight system is in vertical speed mode, a
vertical speed bug will appear on the tape.

Approach Deviation Indications

Similar to every aircraft with an ILS receiver, below and to the right of the 777 attitude indicator are localizer/VOR
and Glide Slope deviation indicators. When an approach frequency is tuned, its IDENT, frequency, and DME are
shown to the top left of the attitude indicator. Any marker beacons are displayed to the upper right of the attitude
display. The localizer and glideslope paths are symbolized by magenta diamonds. The pilot selected approach
minimums are displayed at the bottom left of the altitude speed tape.

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Autoflight-Instruments
Script Writer: Michael Pittman

Standby Instruments and Clock

While we are on the topic of flight instruments, it would be appropriate to talk about our backup standby
instruments. The 777 is equipped with a standby altimeter, attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, and magnetic
compass. These instruments are usually only used in an emergency but most of the time must be reasonably
accurate for dispatch. All of these standby instruments are digital; however, the airspeed and altitude instruments
are in the traditional round gauge format.
The clock displays aircraft generated Zulu time from the planes GPS. The clock also functions as a stopwatch
which is handy during engine starts.

Navigational Display (ND)

In the EFIS Control Panels section, we covered most of the basic topics for the Navigational Display. You will
explore some of the additional ND features in Flightwork! One important piece of information to know is what the
EXCESS DATA message means on the ND. Remember back when we talked about all of the overlays you can
select to have displayed on the ND screen. If you select too many overlays at a wide viewing range, you will
most likely get this message. There is no need to panic however. All you must do is decrease the range and/or
deselect some of the overlays until the message goes away.

Lesson Summary
While you might not be able to watch your favorite show on the cockpit LCDs, they still are a nice alternative to
the old school six pack. Wait, shouldnt have given you any ideas. Anyway, moving along A great way to
reinforce what you learned today would be to experience the Flight Instruments and Controls in Flightwork. As a
review, here are the topics we covered:

Common Display System (CDS)

Air Data Inertial Reference System (ADIRS)
Display Units (DUs)
Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) Control Panels
Multi-Function Display (MFD) Controls
Electronic Checklist (ECL)
Primary Flight Display (PFD)
Standby Instruments and Clock
Navigation Display (ND)

We hope you enjoyed learning about the Flight Instruments of the 777. Feel free to explore other related systems
such as the Heads Up Display.
As always, Throttle On!