We all know that black boxes are installed on airplanes now. So, do you know what a black box is? Who invented the black box? Where is the black box usually installed?
What is the black box?
Black box, namely aircraft flight recorder, is one of the special electronic recording equipment for aircraft. Each aircraft has two black boxes, cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. The former mainly records the cockpit voice call half an hour before the crash, while the latter records the flight altitude, speed, heading, climb rate, descent rate, acceleration, fuel consumption, landing gear extension and retraction, Greenwich mean time, as well as flight parameters such as aircraft system working condition and engine working parameters within two hours after the crash.
Black box inventor
Dr. David Warren, the inventor of the black box, died in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 85. Born in a remote area of northeast Australia, Warren aspired to become an engineer. In 1953, after the crash of the world's first civil jet on its way to Australia, Warren came up with the idea of inventing cockpit voice recorder, and designed and manufactured the prototype of "black box" in 1956. Is the black box black? Where is the black box usually installed?
General situation of black box
The shell of the black box is solid and rectangular. It is about the size of four or five bricks. It is a transceiver. Its appearance is not black, but eye-catching orange, and the surface is also pasted with reflective signs to facilitate night search. Because the data recorded by the flight parameter recorder can only be read and analyzed through the special download device and playback software, and the data stored by the accident recorder is very critical and mysterious. In addition, in some accidents, the recorder turns black after being burned, so people call the flight parameter recorder 'black box'.
As an important avionics equipment related to flight safety, black box has special protection capabilities such as strong impact resistance, penetration resistance, high temperature fire resistance, deep-sea pressure resistance, seawater immersion resistance, corrosive liquid immersion resistance, etc. it can save its internal stored information in various aircraft accidents.
After the aircraft is powered on, the black box will automatically start to work, recording the operation and status information of the aircraft related systems, the operation information of the flight personnel and the related audio and video information on the aircraft, which is not controlled by the personnel. According to the requirements of civil aviation, the data information of the black box is collected in real time from the aircraft sensors and related systems. The flight data and audio data of at least 25 hours before the power failure must be retained, and the recorded data cannot be changed.
Generally speaking, the flight data black box is installed in the rear of the aircraft to minimize the damage when the aircraft crashes; the cockpit audio black box is installed in the front of the aircraft to facilitate the acquisition and recording of voice signals. The black box is connected to the aircraft emergency power supply to ensure that it can work to the last moment.
As an objective, true and comprehensive recorder of aircraft data, black box is the most reliable, scientific and effective means to find out the cause of the accident. With the development of aviation industry, black box plays a more and more important role in the daily safety maintenance, flight status monitoring, elimination of potential accidents and fault location, and even plays an indispensable role in the flight process.
The first use of black box is military aircraft. In 1908, the first military aircraft accident occurred in the United States. In the future, with the increase of flight accidents, there is an urgent need for an instrument to study the causes of accidents. During World War II, flight recorders were officially used in military aircraft. After the war, it began to be used in civil aircraft. The early recording method is relatively backward, using mechanical recording method, recording on photographic paper. After the invention of magnetic recording, it became convenient and reliable.