Flight Management Systems

Book excerpt: This work describes the historical evolution of a critical aspect of aerospace technology—avionics and navigation systems. This history is important to understanding current and future issues associated with aeronautics, space-flight development, and flight management, because avionics is crucial to commerical air traffic control and space flight. Samuel Fishbein provides a historical overview of aviation electronics and instrumentation, the evolution of automated systems and their integration, and the role of the pilot in this environment. In addition, he reviews the major elements comprising the flight management system and the evolution and operation of these instruments, discussing why the instrument panel is configured the way it is, and how ground and space-based components of the systems have influenced the design of airplane components.