Talk:Flight management system

FMS
Hb29m 03:28, 5 January 2007 (UTC)The EFIS is not part of the FMS... in an usual cockpit setup an FMS provide data to one or more EFIS via some avionic link (ARINC 429, RS-485 or MIL-STD-1553). The EFIS part should be merged with the EFIS page. --Sagremor 02:50, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

I am a fresh avionic software engineer and major in fms, so I am very earnest to learn lots of basic knowledge about it.Could anyone please give me a help? thanks ––Hb29m 03:28, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Maybe I should remove "GPS is so far the most precise system to locate the airplane's position".
Radios are taken as more precise, and are taken as the first priority in navigation(or, position location), although they are limited by some conditions like territories.

GPS is much more widerly used, and fairly precise not only in position location, but in ground speed, track and other parameter measurement. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Natasha2006 (talk • contribs) 21:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

I agree that EFIS is not part of FMS.
I put it there because they have close relationship. Maybe there is a way to make it better presented. Any advice would be appreciated!

Possible definition of a FMS
I work at an avionics company where we produce Flight Management Computers, GPS and other products. We use the term FMS to describe a single FMC or a group of FMCs in an aircraft.

Sebontheweb 14:22, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Dead external link
The link for Rockwell Collins (http://www.rockwellcollins.com/products/cs/br/flight_mgmt/index.html) doesn't go anywhere. GBrady (talk) 20:14, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks, fixed now. swa  q  20:40, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Seems like a description of a particular model
"The Flight Management Computer is located in the cockpit between the pilots' seats, beneath the main panel. It's composed of two small alphanumeric keypads and two screens, one of each pilot. Twelve keys are lined up at the sides of the screen, labeled L1 to L6 for the left side, and R1 to R6 for the right side."

I doubt that this is the case of all FMC on all airplane models, including the exact names of the keys! There is no reason that the computer itself should be physically located at that place... David.Monniaux (talk) 04:59, 2 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I know for a fact that not all FMSs side buttons are labeled L1-L6 and R1-R6. Also, some aircraft have one or three FMSs, instead of two, so you're right there too.  However I think it is pretty common for the FMS(s) to reside between the pilot and copilot seats.  Space is very limited in a cockpit and the FMS does not require as much attention as some other instrumentation, so I think you would be hard pressed to find an aircraft with the FMS(s) on the main instrument panel.  swa  q  14:43, 2 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, I think we should differentiate between the computer itself and the display and buttons that it is connected to. Even if the display and buttons are between the seats, it does not follow that the computing machine itself is at the same location. Today, aren't these things in IMA? David.Monniaux (talk) 18:16, 2 October 2008 (UTC)


 * With some FMSs the computer itself is built into the same housing as the display and buttons. Others have a separate box located elsewhere.  swa  q  15:23, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

I intend a major edit

 * I intend a largely new article focusing exclusively on the FMS. The initial article will focus only on the laternal navigation aspect.  The content is applicable from panel mounts to modern A380/787.  Later expansions will include VNAV (largely from airline FMS perspective), the various hardware configs (FMC/ CDU, Panel Mount, A653, etc) and perhaps history.  I will edit once I have the citations.  I will probably use the Bulfer books or Avionics Fundamentals as these are the only published books I found that discuss FMS.

Rex cmc (talk) 03:27, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Number of DME channels
I had to add some ugly "citation needed" tag to the article where it says that FMS use 5x DME channels - any chance of linking information for this? The manual I have for an FMS system says that two DME channels are pilot-controlled, two more are FMS-controlled, and two are just there watching morse-code on the standby frequencies. Mathematically, only 3 are needed for position calculation (Trilateration). Ojw (talk) 21:54, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Indeed with a standard DME (such as a DME-442) each FMS uses just one channel. But this channel scans up to 5 different DME stations (within ten seconds) and uses the five different slant ranges to determine the aircraft's position with a high level of accuracy. Only two stations are needed for position, but five stations allow significantly better accuracy and integrity of the position allowing much better ANP.

For a citation, use AVIONICS by Carl Spitzer page 20-6. I will edit the article with the citation shortly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.131.221.58 (talk) 18:44, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

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