The cockpit is powered by energy made from the engines right? So why doesn't the cockpit have like car batteries or something in case of emergency and the engines shut down. I saw an episode of mayday where all the fuel leaked out, the engines shut off, and like 95% of the cockpit instruments were rendered useless. All they had was that little propeller thing that's deployed to make a little power. What's that thing called by the way?
2007-01-23 07:58:22 · 12 answers · asked by Dan 5 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
What gives you the idea that there isn't any backup power source? Most planes have several of various types.
The most critical instruments don't need any power at all such as altimeter, airspeed, rate of climb, compass, etc.
Others such as artificial horizon and DG only require very minimal power.
Add enough juice for radios and basic navigation equipment -- Comm/Nav, VOR-DME and basic ILS for instrument landings and you're good to go. Most of that can be handled by battery power alone for a fair bit of time, enough to make it to the nearest airport with a suitable runway.
2007-01-23 08:21:42 · answer #1 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most aircraft have 1 to 4 batteries installed in the aircraf. If only 2 installed one is a main battery and the ther is an emergency lighting battery. When 4 batteries installed 2 are main batteries and 2 are emergency lighting batteries. I work on a Navy E-6B Mercury (707-300) . $ battery configuration is installed. We tested the length of time to deplete these batteries and found them to last well past 12 hrs. All aircraft have power loss procedures. It tells them what instruments to turn off as time goes by to pace the battery depletion. Most aircraft also has an auxiliray power unit installed which is a gas turbine engine with a generator attached to it. Depending on the installation these can be run in an emergency in flight up to 22,000 ft.
2007-01-23 09:23:37 · answer #2 · answered by c130ft 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Airplanes have several power back-ups. For example I fly the CRJ-200 (50 Seat regional jet). Each engine has a generator and in the event of both engines flaming out, you also have an APU that has a generator. If by some means you run totally out of fuel then you have what is called an ADG (air driven generator) which will provide power to all the essential flight instruments. The ADG is deployed automatically when all electrical power is lost.
2007-01-23 10:50:10 · answer #3 · answered by milehighaviator 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do have some battery backup for some essential flight instruments, but it is limited since batteries are very heavy. There are mechanical backup instruments, like airspeed and altimeter, in the cockpit to cover in emergency situations and give the the pilots time to get back on the ground.
It's called the Ram Air Turbine, and it does supply additional emergency power.
2007-01-23 08:48:07 · answer #4 · answered by Jerry L 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The speed and alt etc use vacume and all the other stuff can run on battery if planes have a glass cockpit then the amout of batterys arr higher also the strip lighting has there own batterys
Stop watching movies
lol
Tom
2007-01-25 04:58:33 · answer #5 · answered by thomaswheeler1991 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every aircraft has a battery, however some instruments run by other sources of energy most use vacuum like in an attitude indicator.
Air speed indicator doesn't need any source of energy, it just measures the speed of air in motion (releative wind).
Altimeter measures the air pressure and converts the readings as altitude and doesn't need electricity.
2007-01-23 09:57:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They also have a ram which is a little fan like thing that generates electricity as the airflow makes it spin althou this powers only a small portoin of the aircraft it is one of the power back up systems
2007-01-23 10:58:42 · answer #7 · answered by Concorde 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no person, different than group contributors, could enter the cockpit on a similar time as the airplane is interior the air. on a similar time as the airplane is on the gate, maximum pilots would be greater effective than happy to instruct human beings the cockpit and maybe enable them to press some buttons. whilst one pilot leaves the cockpit (bathing room injury), a flight attendant needs to quickly replace them in order that there is yet another physique interior the cockpit. the different pilot purely needs to place the oxygen mask on whilst flying above 25,000 ft.
2016-11-26 21:38:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any airliner has back-up power for the cockpit instruments. That little "propeller thing" is an auxillary power supply.
2007-01-23 09:19:19 · answer #9 · answered by txpilot 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
your watching tv and then getting an idea of what happens in real life many airplanes have battery backups and most instruments are not run off of electrity....airspeed, vertical speed, altimeter ... non of these run off of electricity
2007-01-23 15:22:00 · answer #10 · answered by Shawn B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋