Cold and Dark Cockpit??

[Guest captbulldog]

Interesting! This I shall try!Take care.

[Guest Martin]

To add to your very comprehensive list: At least some airlines seem to have a policy of setting the MCP to SPD 200 (or was it 100?), HDG 360, and ALT 10000. I have seen this in photos (umm, I think - I must have seen it somewhere). It's probably the same as setting all the airspeed bugs to zero - so the crew doesn't accidentally use the previous settings.Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

"At least some airlines seem to have a policy of setting the MCP to SPD 200 (or was it 100?), HDG 360, and ALT 10000."Not quite an airline policy, Martin, but Boeing design. When elec power is removed from the aircraft or A/P system (be it 767, 747 or 777), the panel automatically resets to these values (apart from the HDG, of course, which should read "000" ;-) ). I'm sure PIC would model this. Try it ;-)Cheers.Ian.

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

"I'm sure PIC would model this."Er.... then again, maybe not. Perhaps I was thinking of a certain 747-400 sim :-)If I get the chance tomorrow night, I'll see what happens to the real aircraft when power is removed and re-established, but as I recall, the MCP displays don't blank like they do in PIC when power is removed (the knobs should just stop working). Also, power for the 767 MCP comes from the Main DC busses (L&R). In PIC it appears to be powered by the Standby Bus(?).Cheers.Ian.

[Guest Martin]

Thanks for explaining Ian. Wouldn't it make "sense" (in the airline policy way) though to reset the MCP just like you do with the airspeed bugs?Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

>Wouldn't it make "sense" (in the >airline policy way) though to reset the MCP just like you do >with the airspeed bugs? It would, but I haven't seen it done, Martin.Anyway, here's what I discovered today...When power is removed from the MCP, the displays freeze in their current positions. If the V/S window is open, it remains open.When power is restored, the default values are shown:Airspeed 200Heading 000V/S blankAltitude 10,000The MCP is powered from two 28V DC sources (for redundancy).These sources vary from 767 to 767 however. For example, on our fleet, some have the L XFR Bus and R 28V Main Busses powering the MCP. Some have L and R XFR Busses. Some have L and R DC Busses.Cheers.Ian.

[Guest Martin]

I was always under the impression that the MCP knobs (as well as radio knobs) were very mechanical things, and not electrically powered (at least on the old 767s/747s with "solid" and not digital MCP displays).Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest captbulldog]

The 763 has electronic knobs with solid digits right?

[Guest Ian_Riddell]

"The 767 has electronic knobs with solid digits right?"Right :-)When you turn a knob, the movement is "encoded" (converted to an electrical signal), then this signal is sent to the microprocessors in the MCP. The microprocessors, with the information available to them, drive the display digits electro-mechanically.The 767 and 747-400 knobs rotate through 360 degrees. However, on aircraft like the 777, they are more like a spring-loaded switch. You turn the switches slightly to the right/left, then hold them. The digital (LCD, I think) displays will then change. The 747 Classic knobs feel like they are attached directly to the displays via cogs and wheels.Cheers.Ian.