Learn to fly the Boeing 777 on your simulator

ADIRU - Air Data and Inertial Reference Unit provides Position, Altitude and Speed data for the Flight Displays and FMC's. Pushing the ADIRU senses the attitude of the airplane and true North. This process is called alignment and requires about 6-15 minutes and the aircraft to be stationary.

TAC - Thrust Asymmetric Compensation. Assists in maintaining Directional Control of the aircraft in case of loss of thrust on one engine or when the thrust levers are split. It commands a high rate rudder input. Noticed by change in the rudder trim position (located on the aisle stand).

PFC - Primary Flight Computer. Central brain of the Fly By Wire system on the 777. It translates the movements of the flight control inputs by the pilots to the hydraulic pressure on the flight control surfaces.

The orange white diagrams I created are a more simplified forms to understand the general layout of the systems. The orange symbols are the switches you can control from the cockpit. You will see these diagrams when we go through the overhead panels

Symbology on the aircraft synoptics page -

• Connections are white lines on the synoptics page. An active connection, i.e. a connection carrying electricity, hydraulic pressure or fuel is known by a solid green line.

• Pumps/Sources can be seen as a white box. A source that is turned ON is known by a solid green box. If it is supplying, it will be connected to the solid green lines. If it is ON but not supplying it will be connected to the white lines.

• Isolation Valves that are open are shown in green. Closed are in white. For example in the bleed air synoptic you can see the isolation valves open but there is no air supply as can be seen from the white lines.

• Fault/Inop systems or components are known by an amber color.

The sources for power are:

• External

  - Ground Power Units (GPU). Two units can be connected, Primary and Secondary.

• Aircraft

  - APU (Auxiliary Power Unit)

  - Engines

Electrical switches on the overhead panel control the ability to connect/disconnect the sources from the electrical system or connections between the buses.

A bus is like a power extension board to which various electrical components are connected. When power supply is stopped to the bus all electrical components connected to the bus have a loss of power.

Utility powers the recirculating fans located in the upper and lower sections of the cabin section and the IFE switch controls supply to the In Flight Entertainment System.

GPWS - Ground Proximity Warning System is a safety feature that activates aural alerts or visual alerts - as in messages displayed on the EICAS or PFD - to warn about a situation seen as a threat to continue a normal safe flight. However certain approaches or phases of flight might need the airplane to be flown in a different way. This causes alerts to be activated that might be distracting to continue that phase of flight. These can then be inhibited by pressing these GPWS override switches to silence the respective alerts. An EICAS message is however displayed for awareness when the GPWS is overridden by the pilot. GPWS override switches on the 777 are available for Runway, Glideslope, Flaps, Gear and Terrain.

Hydraulic Pressure is needed to move large control surfaces of the airplane or for operation of the landing gear. It is used because a large amount of pressure can be applied through the movement of a small amount of fluid.

The demand pumps are left in their AUTO position during normal operation but do not necessary supply hydraulic pressure. Demand Pumps come on when additional hydraulic pressure is needed such as during the Takeoff phase.

Hydraulic Fluid reservoir is where the hydraulic fluid is stored. The quantity can be seen on the HYD synoptic.

The FAULT light illuminates below the Demand Pump switches when the pumps are manually turned off or shutdown due to malfunction. The FAULT light does not illuminate when operating in normal condition (AUTO) even though the pumps are not supplying any pressure.

RAT - Ram Air Turbine converts wind energy to mechanical energy to move the aircraft components when hydraulic pressure is unavailable.

Arming the Cargo Fire Discharge bottle isolates the cooling ducts from the Avionic section located below the flight deck hence the illumination of the EQUIP COOLING OVRD light. So that there is minimum airflow when the extinguishing bottles are discharged.

EPR - Engine Pressure Ratio is the Turbine Discharge pressure to Compressor Inlet Pressure.

EEC - Electronic Engine Controller receive input from thrust levers to control the engines. EEC's are operated in Normal mode.

EEC Alternate modes - Soft (Both NORM and ALTN lights illuminated) and Hard (ALTN light illuminated only). Alternate modes have different functions and slight differences in how engine information is displayed on the EICAS.
I did not see any change in the simulator.

The Fuel system is simple to understand.

There are two pumps for each tank - Forward and Aft. One tank is located on each wing. The wing tanks are labelled as L Main and R Main on the synoptic.

There are two pumps in the center tank of the aircraft fuselage - Left and Right.

When the APU is ON, the L Main Forward Pump automatically supplies fuel to the APU. Due to this you will notice the PRESS light extinguished on the respective pump switch. While PRESS lights remain illuminated on the other pump switches indicating that the pumps are not operating.

When the pump switches are manually turned ON the ON lights illuminate on them indicating that the pumps were manually turned ON.

Crossfeed is used in non-normal situations like when one engine fails and fuel needs to be balanced on both the wings. There are two crossfeed valves.

The minimum Fuel temperature can be set in the FMC depending on the type of fuel being used. EICAS warning is displayed when fuel temp reaches minimum fuel temperature.

Bleed Air is some air that is separated from the air that passes through the engines. Hence the name bleed air, since it is bled off from the engines.

Some of this heated air is used to heat the leading edge of the wings and engine nacelles when icing is detected.

You will see more use of the bleed air in the Air Conditioning lesson.

Synoptic symbology for setting temperature :

• White - Present temp in that aircraft section

• Magenta - What temp it is set to from the selector on the overhead panel

Isolation Valves open or close depending on system functionality.

Recirculation Fans Upper and Lower are located in the cabin. They help in circulation of air and conditioning of the cabin hence also helping by reducing fuel consumption.

Equipment Cooling is fans that circulate air to the equipment section located below the flight deck.

Gasper as mentioned is what is located on the walls of the cabin section.

Duct Pressure is the pressure in the ducts that carry the air. 0 duct pressure means that no air is being supplied.

Forward and Aft Outflow valves are located in the forward and aft section of the fuselage respectively. They control the outflow of the cabin air to maintain the pressure in the cabin. On ground these are open. As the aircraft climbs they close as needed.

Cabin Alt is the pressure in the cabin to what it would be at that altitude. Maximum cabin altitude is 8000ft.

Landing Altitude is received from the airport entered in the FMC. If no airport is set in the FMC, an EICAS message ' LDG ALTITUDE' is displayed. It can be manually set from the overhead panel.

Rate is the rate at which cabin altitude is changing. It is displayed in fpm.

Delta P is differential pressure i.e. the pressure inside the cabin to the outside pressure. Max differential pressure is 9.4 psi.

Difference between Panel and Flood lights -
-Panel lights light up the text around the switches and the lining on the panels and around the switches.
-Flood Lights light up the whole panel with a flood light of which the intensity can be controlled.

Camera Lights light up the landing gears and help in taxiing during the night or low visibility conditions.

The Generator control has two switches on the overhead panel. One is a breaker switch and the other is the Driver switch. Breakers connect the drives (IDG's or Integrated Drive Generator) to the electrical system of the aircraft. These breaker switches can be disconnected from the overhead panel. The IDG's provide electrical power to the aircraft and are located on the engines.

Turn on the Hydraulic Demand pumps and Primary pumps before engine start.

Air conditioning packs Left and Right can be turned ON once the APU is running or an external air conditioning unit is connected to the aircraft.

Chronometer is used when precise time measurement is needed such as for an instrument approach. Think of it as a stopwatch.

EFIS - Electronic Flight Instrument System

Choosing BARO sets the altitude to the the MDA or DA which will be ASL and if Radio is chosen the altitude will be set to AGL. A callout is made when the altimeter (ASL) or the radio altimeter (AGL) hits the set altitude. The set altitude can be seen on the bottom right of the PFD. When a BARO minimum altitude is set a green arrow can be seen on the altimeter scale. Notice in the video at the 400 feet mark on the PFD when BARO MINS is selected.

Pressing STD sets the altimeter setting to 29.92 which is the standard altimeter setting. The STD in green is displayed on the PFD above the transition altitude set in the FMC and is amber when selected below the transition altitude.

VOR/ADF frequency from respective FMC's are displayed on left or right of the ND. L takes the frequencies from the Left FMC and R from the right.

VOR frequency is displayed in Green and ADF in Cyan color.
L VOR/ADF is displayed by a single arrow. R VOR/ADF is displayed by two arrows.

TA - Traffic Advisory
RA - Resolution Advisory

When TA is selected on the transponder TA ONLY is displayed on the ND. TA ONLY is also displayed when the aircraft is on the ground even though TA/RA is selected on the transponder.

When TA/RA is selected on the transponder and is active TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) is displayed on the ND.

ND Filters like WXR, STA, APT etc. for the map are apparent from their names. DATA displays the ETA's and other data at the waypoints when a flight plan is entered in the FMC. POS displays the position of the aircraft on a radial from the nearest VOR.

MCP - Mode Control Panel. You communicate with the autopilot through this panel.

A/T - Autothrottle, Arm switches arm the autothrottles. They are automatically engaged once TOGA on the thrust levers are pressed. A/T Engage switch is illuminated. They can be disengaged by pressing this switch again or disengage switches on the thrust levers which we will see later.

The airspeed selector display hides the speed when autothrottle is engaged and the autopilot controls the speed. It can be displayed by pushing the airspeed selector knob which unhides the airspeed and can be controlled manually. Pressing it again hides the speed and is controlled by the autopilot again from the speeds programmed in the FMC.

CLB CON - provides maximum rated climb thrust. It is not used much unless if maximum thrust is needed in a climb. It could be when a lower thrust is programmed by the FMC depending on the assumed temperature entry or a derate selected. This is because each profile has its own set of performance calculations.

LNAV - Lateral Navigation controls the path of the aircraft over the ground. When engaged the aircraft follows the path take from the active flight plan in the FMC. This path can be seen as a magenta line on the ND.

VNAV - Vertical Navigation controls the vertical profile of the aircraft. When engaged the aircraft climbs or descends according to data entered in the FMC. When engaged the aircraft automatically levels of to comply with altitude restrictions at waypoints.

FLCH - Flight Level Change or nicknamed 'Flich' is engaged when max rate of climb or descent is needed. Aircraft maintains pitch for selected airspeed. Max thrust is used when it is engaged for climb thus giving the max rate for that pitch. Idle thrust it is when selected for descent, giving max rate for that pitch.

HDG - Heading is selected when you don't want the aircraft to follow the path like in case of a deviation due to weather or ATC.

Heading is the direction the nose of the aircraft is pointed in. Track is the track over the ground. In zero wind conditions the heading and track will be same. With winds the nose will be pointed into the wind to maintain a track.

Pushing ALT Altitude selector knob clears a single altitude restriction in the FMC. We will see later in the FMC lesson. Also if an early or late descent is required at the Top of Descent (TD) point the desired lower altitude can be set and the ALT selector knob is pushed to start the descent.

FPA - Flight Path Angle can be used when the aircraft is to be descended at a specific angle. Selected flight path angle can be seen on the PFD with a '= =' sign.

L or R is displayed near the altimeter setting on the PFD depending on which FD Flight Director or AP is engaged first. If both are engaged L is always displayed.

Temperature on the Landing Gear synoptic shows brake temperature. Hot brakes after landing can be cooled by performing a slow taxi.

MFD - Multi Function Display can display the various synoptics. If the display selector on the Forward panel is switched from MFD to ND the inboard displays will only display the Navigation Map and cannot display the synoptics.

Display Switches are not used unless in a non normal situation. There are different channels that power the display units. Failure of any channel automatically switches to an alternate channel. If it does not however happen automatically, an alternate channel can be manually selected. The same is for the Navigation data source. The default source for each ND display is its FMC i.e. L or R.

Elapsed time is used to record the flight time. It can be started manually.

The clock displays the UTC time and it cannot be set manually. Local Time and Date can be set manually as shown.

Some 777's do not have a clock on the forward panel. Instead the UTC time will be displayed on the bottom of the PFD. The elapsed time automatically starts on take off and stops when the aircraft touches down.

Moving from the outside of the forward panel there are the Outboard Displays which displays the PFD, Inboard displays the ND or MFD and Center Display Units which consists of the Upper Display (EICAS) and Lower Display (MFD).

EICAS - Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System

PFD - Primary Flight Display

ND - Navigation Display

3 Modes annunciate on the PFD. First is for the Autothrottle, then is the Track or Heading and finally the Vertical Path. The annunciations tell the pilot what the autopilot is doing for it's respective mode. An engaged mode will be displayed in green. A mode in white will be displayed below the green text when it is armed but not engaged yet. When a new mode is engaged a box displays around the text for 10 seconds.

Heading changes from Magnetic to True around 80º N in the Polar region. Grid Heading is also displayed on the ND near the true heading.

Yellow Box with dashed lines on the PFD altimeter scale shows the elevation. A Yellow line extends to 500 feet above ground level (AGL) and the white line extends from 500 feet to 1000 feet AGL.

ECL - Electronic Checklist

Open and Closed loop checks. Open loop checks can be checked manually by the pilot. Closed loop checks are marked checked once the action is carried out. Checklists can be overridden by selecting CHKL OVRD.

Pressing CHKL once blanks the MFD. Pressing it again displays the next Normal Checklist in sequence if the previous checklist was complete. A non-normal checklist is displayed if a non-normal situation exists.

In an APU Takeoff, A-TO maximum thrust is obtained from the engines. There is minimum loss of air since the air normally bled off for air conditioning from the engines is now taken from the APU. This also illuminates a fault light on the R pack. After takeoff the bleed air is bled off normally again and the fault light extinguishes.

The green line extending on the speed tape is called a trend vector and shows where the speed will be at a certain time.

The striped red line below the yellow line is nicknamed a barber's pole and is the stalling speed. The yellow line is the minimum maneuvering speed. A red line comes in display on the top of the speed tape at higher speeds, that is the critical Mach number speed.

ADI Attitude Direction Indicator is a standby attitude indicator.

N1 thrust limits are displayed by the small yellow line.

Here are the rest of the GPWS inhibit switches.

Air Ground Sensor are present on the Landing Gear. When weight on wheels is detected it is in ground mode.

Normal Landing Gear display has a single indication. If landing gears extend at a different pace, separate indications are displayed for each landing gear. When gears are in transit a box with dashed lines is displayed.

RTO - Rejected Takeoff. It is when the aircraft needs to be stopped on the takeoff roll before V1 speed.

Autobrake displayed on EICAS when disarmed. It can be disarmed either by moving selector to DISARM or by pressing the toe brakes on top of the rudder pedals.

CCD - Cursor Control Device is used to control the cursor on the MFD screens.

The FMC (Flight Management Computer) is operated through the CDU (Control Display Unit) by the pilots.

A SID is Standard Instrument Departure and a STAR is Standard Terminal Arrival. These are published procedures for departing and arriving at the airport. These procedures are part of the navigation database stored in the FMC.

Executing makes the flight plan active and on the ND the flight planned route can be seen with a magenta line.

Cost Index is the cost of fuel to the operation costs. Lower cost index number means slower speeds and Higher cost index is the opposite.

Derated and Assumed temperature sets its own thrust limit and has its own charts and performance figures.
Derated Thrust is a lower thrust setting for Takeoff and Climb as can be seen in the CDU. For example the thrust limit will be lower on 'TO2' than on 'TO'. Each selection has it's own set of performance calculations.
Assumed temperature is by entering a temperature. It tricks the engine into thinking the aircraft is operating at a higher temperature environment thus giving a lower thrust setting in order to reduce the wear and tear of the engine.

Ways of entering waypoints:
>Place bearing - distance
>Place bearing - place bearing
>Along track which is along the route the aircraft is currently flying on
>Lat Long
>Waypoint identifier

Autopilot will start automatic descent if a lower altitude is set on the MCP before the Top of Descent point (TD). VNAV must be engaged. If the lower altitude is not set and the aircraft crosses the TD, a descent can be started by setting a lower altitude and pushing the ALT selector knob. It can also be started earlier that the TD point in the same way. Again VNAV must be engaged.

EFIS control panel and MFD display switches can also be controlled through the CDU by going to the MENU page.

Stab Trim should be within the green band before takeoff.
The green band is only displayed on ground and cannot be seen once the aircraft is in the air.

Stab Trim provides trimming for the stabilator.

On the leading edge the aerodynamic surface that extends are called slats.

On trailing edge they are called flaps.

TCAS - Traffic Collision and Avoidance System

TA - Traffic Advisory gives an aural alert in the cockpit 'Traffic Traffic'. It does not give any direction on how to avoid the traffic. 45 seconds impact time.

RA - Resolution Advisory gives direction on how to resolve conflict with an approaching traffic. Indications on PFD and aural commands guide the pilot on what action should be taken. The commands are vertical flight path commands such as climb or descent. 25 seconds impact time

Proximity Traffic is less than 6 NM and less than 1200 feet but not TA/RA traffic. Indicated on the PFD with a white filled diamond.

Other Traffic is greater than 6 NM and 1200 feet. It is indicated by an empty white diamond.

EVAC - Emergency Voice Alarm Communications

CB - Circuit Breaker