Acars In The Cockpit Questions

[BOBRR]

Hi,

Now that I'm finally able to get acars transmissions with acarsd, started wondering about the mechanics of it a bit.

e.g.,

what's in the cockpit ? What is the acars station like there ?
Is it a keyboard like a typewriter, or...?

And the abbreviations in the msgs.-
Sure are a zillion of them, apparently.
No way, I would imagine, that the pilot has all of these memorized.

Is it that the data in the msgs that give position, heading, altitude etc are taken automatically from the appropriate transducers, the correct abbreviation automatically appended, and then sent ?

So, only a real-world msg would be keyed in (if it is via keys ?) by a pilot, e.g., "have a stretcher waiting" perhaps is actually done by the pilot ?

Any info on all of this would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

[morfis]

Most messages are system generated...eg. when the wheels are locked up, brakes released, wheels off the floor etc. Some standard messages can be programmed in (different airlines use different formats) and use on a single keypress. Free text can be entered but is laborious (doesn't have a querty keyboard) so generally only used for important things (such as checking a baseball score, requesting a hotel room)

[immelmen]

Originally Posted by BOBRR

Hi,

Now that I'm finally able to get acars transmissions with acarsd, started wondering about the mechanics of it a bit.

e.g.,

what's in the cockpit ? What is the acars station like there ?
Is it a keyboard like a typewriter, or...?

It depends on the Aircraft. On newer aircraft the ACARS is a menu in the FMS under "datalink". The crew uses the FMS CDU and keyboard to interface with ACARS. Messages are displayed on the FMS CDU screen.

Some older systems have a dedicated touch screen interface on the center pedestal. Operation is the same, you just use the keys/menus on the touch screen and the received messages are printed on paper. (a fun trick to play on new flight attendants is to push paper money into the printer and when they come into the flight deck, press the paper forward option to spit the money back out at you like a free ATM...then tell the stew its a perk of your job.)

Originally Posted by BOBRR

And the abbreviations in the msgs.-
Sure are a zillion of them, apparently.
No way, I would imagine, that the pilot has all of these memorized.

The messages that are displayed/printed to the crew are typically ATC PDC Clearances, and weather. It is displayed in raw, un-decoded format. Yes, there are a zillion abbreviations, however, by the time your flying something big enough to be equipped with ACARS, you have seen them a zillion times and have them memorized. I find at this point in my life, I can read raw weather much faster then plain language...

Originally Posted by BOBRR

Is it that the data in the msgs that give position, heading, altitude etc are taken automatically from the appropriate transducers, the correct abbreviation automatically appended, and then sent ?

Pretty much...other then free text to the dispatchers or maintenance folks, the rest of the messages sent from the crew to the ground are either automatic or done by line selecting that option on the CDU for example " In Range Report"...once selected, you enter in the number of wheel chairs, then toggle yes or no if you want lav service or ground air conditioning, ect, and finally there is a space for comments. Some people like to put "please call hotel van" even though the ground station is way to lazy to do it 99% of the time.

Originally Posted by BOBRR

So, only a real-world msg would be keyed in (if it is via keys ?) by a pilot, e.g., "have a stretcher waiting" perhaps is actually done by the pilot ?

right, and again, even though its not a qwerty key pad, you use the CDU so much in the course of every flight that you get to be very fast with it.

Hope that helps....if you want to see more, I took some videos of me sending ATIS requests and such via ACARS at work a year a go or so...send me your email and Ill pass them along.

[poltergeisty]

Originally Posted by immelmen

Some older systems have a dedicated touch screen interface on the center pedestal. Operation is the same, you just use the keys/menus on the touch screen and the received messages are printed on paper. (a fun trick to play on new flight attendants is to push paper money into the printer and when they come into the flight deck, press the paper forward option to spit the money back out at you like a free ATM...then tell the stew its a perk of your job.)

LOL!!


BOBRR , YouTube has many videos as well. Just enter FMS or FMC. Some of them are from flightsimulator. You should know the difference.