Interactive Commercial Glass Cockpit Guide
Explore modern airliner flight deck instrumentation. Click any cockpit instrument or system control below to inspect telemetry parameters, pilot standard operating procedures, and automated flight envelope protections.
Flight Deck Avionics Highlights
- Interactive visual breakdown comparing the Airbus fly-by-wire flight deck (A350/A320neo) against the Boeing glass cockpit (787/777X).
- Clickable avionics hotspots detail the Primary Flight Display (PFD), Navigation Display (ND), and EICAS or ECAM telemetry.
- Explains Flight Management Computer (FMS/MCDU) lateral navigation (LNAV) and vertical navigation (VNAV) speed calculations.
- Covers side-stick priority takeover mechanisms versus linked dual control columns.
Primary Flight Display (PFD)
The Primary Flight Display (PFD) provides the flight crew with critical instantaneous attitude, speed, and altitude vectors. It replaces the traditional six-pack mechanical instruments with a dynamic electronic symbology suite.
Airbus vs Boeing Glass Cockpit Architecture
1. Flight Envelope Protections
Airbus implements "hard limits" in Normal Law: the side-stick cannot command a pitch angle exceeding 30 degrees, a bank angle beyond 67 degrees, or exceed stall angle-of-attack (Alpha Max). Boeing implements "soft limits": the pilot can overcome tactile yoke backpressure or stick-shaker warnings to command pitch beyond normal limits during critical terrain escape maneuvers.
2. Tactile Feedback vs Electronic Synoptics
Boeing flight decks utilize autothrottles that physically move forward and backward across all thrust adjustments, keeping the pilot informed of engine power through tactile hand contact. Airbus uses detented thrust levers (CLIMB, FLEX, TOGA) where the throttles remain stationary in the CL detent while the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) modulates engine thrust electronically.
3. Heads-Up Display (HUD) Integration
Modern widebodies feature dual Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) projecting critical flight symbology onto optical glass directly in the pilots' forward line of sight. Dual HUD installations permit Category IIIb low-visibility instrument approaches down to 75 meters Runway Visual Range (RVR) with zero decision height.
4. Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Convergence
Contemporary aircraft feature fully integrated Class 3 EFBs connected directly to the aircraft avionics bus. Crews calculate precise derated thrust takeoffs, optimal climb profiles, and real-time wake turbulence radar maps directly from pilot side-console touchscreen displays.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between an Airbus and Boeing glass cockpit?
Airbus uses independent, passive side-sticks placed on the outer console that do not physically move in tandem, relying on electronic flight envelope protections and priority takeover buttons. Boeing uses traditional center-mounted, mechanically back-driven control yokes that mirror pilot and autopilot pitch and roll inputs.
What is the difference between EICAS and ECAM?
EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) is Boeing and Bombardier standard, displaying engine gauges, warning and caution messages, and system synoptics. ECAM (Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor) is Airbus standard, presenting active system schematics and step-by-step electronic checklists directly to the crew during abnormal events.
How does the Primary Flight Display (PFD) improve flight safety?
The PFD consolidates the basic six analog flight instruments into a single glass display: attitude indicator, airspeed tape with critical V-speeds, altimeter tape with barometric setting, vertical speed indicator, heading compass rose, and the Flight Mode Annunciator (FMA) showing autopilot capture modes.
What is an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)?
An EFB is an electronic tablet or dedicated avionics screen that replaces paper navigational charts, aircraft operating manuals, and performance calculation charts, computing precise runway takeoff speeds and weight-and-balance figures in seconds.