Re: Glass Cockpit, ages quicker ?


"Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote in message
news:Jr6qf.29813$QW2.11667@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> The fact is that mechanical instruments, pneumatic pumps and
> other "old style" gauges are more likely to fail without
> warning and do not self-monitor. ...snip...
> But if a piece of electronic hardware is
> working after a few hours of "burn-in" it is likely to work
> for many years.


"many years" has a different definition for electronic vs. mechanical
systems.

It has been pointed out in this thread that it is unlikely that today's
glass cockpit will still be in the plane 30 years from now. I venture to
say that it will probably not be in the plane 10 or 15 years from now.

I am not sure what the maintenance-requirement details for these things are
going to be, but I am going to speculate that manufacturers (if not the FAA)
will demand that you upgrade components frequently. They are not likely to
maintain 15-year-old chips, displays, or firmware, just so you can exactly
replace a defective component 15 years from now. So I will speculate that
the long-term real-costs will be substantial.

And, as you have pointed out, electronic hardware usually fails in the first
few hours, or very very late in its life. Thus having periodic
"maintenance" or upgrades is not necessarily increasing safety... the
failure rate will actually go up because of the new components. Then also,
whereas an old mechanical component will often give some warning or visible
sign of its impending death.... an old electronic device will usually die
suddenly.

So the questions become... will I be allowed to install one of these and
keep it for 15 or even 30 years without modification, maintenance or
upgrade? Unlikely. So how much is it going to cost me to do the required
upgrades? Does anyone know? Will I have to replace the whole thing every 5
or 8 years, just like my home computer, at 30-grand a crack? Maybe it would
be cheaper to lease and replace every three years, just like a car?

Cheaper, maybe but still not cheap.









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