Why do you need to press so many buttons to start a plane? Can’t there be just one button to start everything in sequence automatically?
In: Technology
In a car you’re responsible for 8~ lives and there are not as many systems in play as a B737-800 for say (a car engine dies, you slow and stop; a plane engine dies, you now have uneven thrust on a vessel with hundreds on board and “stopping” means hitting the ground, however well you’re able to do it), which can carry hundreds of souls. if you look through youtube for preflight checklists youll see how necessary each step is. one big thing is safety, make sure all your warning lights work (there’s a test switch for all warning lights). the other is airline cost, you dont want to start your engines until you need them (fuel cost AKA cost index), and before that you need to make sure everything is safe to function in the event of a failure. some planes like the 747 can’t even move until al 4 engines are running because if only 2 are running they would produce an unsafe amount of thrust to move around the airport to the workers on the ramp. so mostly it comes down to safety.
and then there’s redundancy. You can start or restart an engine with the APU, or with the bleed from an already functioning engine, or from electricity from either the apu, a generator, the battery, or ground power. with so many variables you have to check to make sure each is available to you in the event one somehow isn’t.
sticking with the theme of safety, you have to make sure your instrument readings are correct, setting the QNH (make sure your altimeter knows where the ground is), check that your settings are ready for takeoff (go full throttle for a second and make sure the warning sound beeps when you know you aren’t set for takeoff) etc.
a lot of this is programmed into the Flight management system (FMS/FMC) and in fact pretty much all of the flying is done by the computer once you reach the “transition altitude”. but the onus is on you to make sure the computer is doing everything right, and you need to know how to solve a problem if one arises.
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