737NG Nav system
Hi,
so here's a post which is probably going to receive a few sarcastic answers but I'm struggling to make sense of this.
The following is a question supposedly asked during an interview for Ryanair:
"What type of navigation system is used on the 737NG?"
I'm not really even sure where to start with this question. But so far this is what I've come up with, and if any of this is incorrect I would greatly appreciate being put straight.
ALL 737s (NG and CLassic) have INS. Exact coordinates are entered into the FMS on stand to give the aircrafts 'start-point'. In flight the IRS measures data regarding attitude, speed, heading, acceleration. This data is fed into the FMC which delivers navigation information to the CDUs.
However the NGs use GPS as the primary source of navigation which is more accurate but availability not always guaranteed since it uses military satellites.
now my questions:
1. INS is a required backup system for GPS on the 737?
2. Do the INS and GPS systems use the same CDUs to display nav guidance?
3. Was the initial question a lot more simple than I am making it, by which I mean does the nav system on the 737 simply have a 'brand name' i.e. G1000, Avidyne?
I know this post is a bit of a mishmash and a struggle to read but any pointers would really be appreciated.