Avionics News October 2012 - 70
series
B Y T H O M A S I N M A N
Knowing the System
ecently, I participated in a card trick. The showman held a deck of cards and carefully selected one. While being careful not to show the audience its value, he put it face down on a nearby table. “Now, guess what card I drew,” he said. Six people were in the room, and we each volunteered a guess. All were wrong, which wasn’t surprising when you figure our best odds were a hair greater than 2 percent.
R
“How many guesses do you think it would take to guess the card?” he continued. “Worst case, 52 guesses,” someone replied. He drew another card. Again, he placed it face down on the table, while making sure no one saw its face. “This time, you may ask me yes or no questions,” he said. “Also, we will establish the value of an ace as one, the jack as 11, queen as 12 and the king as 13.” The first question was, “is it red?” Five questions later, we
Block diagrams like this Globalstar block help technicians understand a system. 70
established the card was the two of hearts. We all knew the system of cards. We knew there were four suits, the color associated with each suit and the numeric value of face cards. In addition, we knew there were 52 cards in the deck. The showman stressed how our knowledge of the playing-card system allowed us to determine the proper questions to ask. I plan to use this trick in class with my students. Whether you are an avionics technician, maintenance technician, pilot, owner or line crew, system knowledge is important. The systems you must know may differ somewhat. Depending on your position, the required detail may differ. But, in all cases, system knowledge is important. I have heard horror stories and witnessed costly errors caused by a lack of crucial knowledge. In one case, a line technician replaced an autoflight computer four times. He would remove the bad one and send it back to the maintenance center. Each time, he would install a new one, which would fail on the next flight. This process was repeated four times before someone took the initiative to look further into the system. Most of us with a few years of experience have similar stories, I’m sure. In my 26 years of teaching, I
avionics news
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october
2012
Avionics News October 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News October 2012
Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View From Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
Lightning Detection & Datalink
Member Profile
Cockpit Innovations
Member Profile
A Conversation With...
Understanding Autopilot Upgrades
Before & After
Member Profile
Pro-to-col
Business Basics
Theory & Practice
What's New
Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News October 2012 - Intro
Avionics News October 2012 - Cover1
Avionics News October 2012 - Cover2
Avionics News October 2012 - 1
Avionics News October 2012 - 2
Avionics News October 2012 - 3
Avionics News October 2012 - Point of Communication
Avionics News October 2012 - 5
Avionics News October 2012 - AEA Now
Avionics News October 2012 - 7
Avionics News October 2012 - 8
Avionics News October 2012 - 9
Avionics News October 2012 - 10
Avionics News October 2012 - 11
Avionics News October 2012 - 12
Avionics News October 2012 - 13
Avionics News October 2012 - The View From Washington
Avionics News October 2012 - 15
Avionics News October 2012 - International News and Regulatory Updates
Avionics News October 2012 - 17
Avionics News October 2012 - 18
Avionics News October 2012 - 19
Avionics News October 2012 - Lightning Detection & Datalink
Avionics News October 2012 - 21
Avionics News October 2012 - 22
Avionics News October 2012 - 23
Avionics News October 2012 - 24
Avionics News October 2012 - 25
Avionics News October 2012 - 26
Avionics News October 2012 - 27
Avionics News October 2012 - Member Profile
Avionics News October 2012 - 29
Avionics News October 2012 - 30
Avionics News October 2012 - 31
Avionics News October 2012 - Cockpit Innovations
Avionics News October 2012 - 33
Avionics News October 2012 - 34
Avionics News October 2012 - 35
Avionics News October 2012 - 36
Avionics News October 2012 - 37
Avionics News October 2012 - 38
Avionics News October 2012 - 39
Avionics News October 2012 - Member Profile
Avionics News October 2012 - 41
Avionics News October 2012 - 42
Avionics News October 2012 - 43
Avionics News October 2012 - A Conversation With...
Avionics News October 2012 - 45
Avionics News October 2012 - Understanding Autopilot Upgrades
Avionics News October 2012 - 47
Avionics News October 2012 - 48
Avionics News October 2012 - 49
Avionics News October 2012 - 50
Avionics News October 2012 - 51
Avionics News October 2012 - 52
Avionics News October 2012 - 53
Avionics News October 2012 - 54
Avionics News October 2012 - 55
Avionics News October 2012 - Before & After
Avionics News October 2012 - 57
Avionics News October 2012 - Member Profile
Avionics News October 2012 - 59
Avionics News October 2012 - 60
Avionics News October 2012 - 61
Avionics News October 2012 - Pro-to-col
Avionics News October 2012 - 63
Avionics News October 2012 - 64
Avionics News October 2012 - 65
Avionics News October 2012 - Business Basics
Avionics News October 2012 - 67
Avionics News October 2012 - 68
Avionics News October 2012 - 69
Avionics News October 2012 - Theory & Practice
Avionics News October 2012 - 71
Avionics News October 2012 - 72
Avionics News October 2012 - 73
Avionics News October 2012 - What's New
Avionics News October 2012 - 75
Avionics News October 2012 - 76
Avionics News October 2012 - 77
Avionics News October 2012 - Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News October 2012 - 79
Avionics News October 2012 - 80
Avionics News October 2012 - Cover3
Avionics News October 2012 - Cover4
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