Airbus A380 Cockpit

[Mag-Mower]

Originally Posted by Lartnev

I think when it's time for planes to be flying themselves they'd be relying on more than just gyros (ie GPS, ground signals etc).

At least I'd hope they'd be

Thats what I was thinking. I would refuse to go on anything less... but I already refuse to go on airplanes for some reason...

[Ghryphen]

Originally Posted by Hamma

What the hell is wrong with Cockpit?

It's not "PC"

[Giovanni]

Originally Posted by Mag-Mower

Thats what I was thinking. I would refuse to go on anything less... but I already refuse to go on airplanes for some reason...

Because you're a pussy?

[Hamma]

Originally Posted by Gryphon

It's not "PC"

Man I hate "PC"

Origin
cock***183;pit (k***335;k'p***301;t')
It did not originally refer to the navigation center of an airplane. That application of the word did not arise, understandably, until 1914. Prior to that the word referred to the quarters for junior officers on a warship. That meaning arose in 1706. Before that, Cockpit referred to the buildings housing the Trasury and Privy Council in London, which were situated on the site of a former theatre, The Cockpit. The theatre was named thus as it had been located on the site of a former cockpit (from 1587), where cockfights took place.

Definition
cock***183;pit (k***335;k'p***301;t')
n.
<ol><li><ol type="a"><li> The space in the fuselage of a small airplane containing seats for the pilot, copilot, and sometimes passengers.</li><li> The space set apart for the pilot and crew, as in a helicopter, large airliner, or transport aircraft.</li></ol></li><li> The driver's compartment in a racing car.</li><li> A pit or enclosed area for cockfights.</li><li> A place where many battles have been fought.</li><li><i>Nautical.</i> <ol type="a"><li> A compartment in an old warship below the water line, used as quarters for junior officers and as a station for the wounded during a battle.</li><li> An area in a small decked vessel toward the stern, lower than the rest of the deck, from which the vessel is steered.</li></ol></li></ol>

Interesting. I mean "Cockpit" sounds kind of kinky but your mind has to be in the gutter.

[Peacemaker]

Originally Posted by Lartnev

I think when it's time for planes to be flying themselves they'd be relying on more than just gyros (ie GPS, ground signals etc).

At least I'd hope they'd be

They already do. GPS isnt accurate enough to be used to fly a plane into land though. That couple meters diffrence is too much for a computer to use to calculate its exact position over a runway. That plane right there failed because the GPS was thrown off by 10 meters, the plane started to land, the elivation changed more than it was supposed to in the computers mind and it compensated by moving the flight path further down the runway, into a forest.

Signals from the ground are already everywhere. Aircraft use a series of ground stations to figure out where they are. VORs, VORTACs, DME, ADF, and VOR Localisers all enable a pilot to tell where he is in relation to airports. The VOR Localiser in specific gives the pilot a glide slope to land with, the only problem is, that glide slope stops at 25 feet from the surface. Then its up to the pilot to judge the landings.

Diffrent types of airplanes are rated for diffrent types of weather. The worst weather is 0 0 visibility and only the super modern planes like A380s which are labled as Catagory 4 aircraft can preform a 0 0 landing. While this is possible it is very unsafe and as far as I know they hardly do it.