FADEC

[howard2107]

Just curious, what does this stand for, and what does it do with the engine. I am guessing it is some sort of engine management system, my oh my how things have come along since my days on the spanners!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Full-authority digital electronic control.

God knows what it means but I bet you and your spanners were as good, if not better!

[Beech_Boy]

FADEC can mean as mentioned above by HD or also digital engine control.
The FADEC contains and electronic controller (EEC or ECU) these and other accessories control pretty much all of the engines controls.

[DaveReidUK]

Good explanation on Wikipedia:

FADEC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FADEC)

It's the equivalent in the propulsion world of "Computer Says No". :O

[howard2107]

My assumption was sort of right, thanks a lot, leave the spanners in the box, and fix it with the laptop then.

Never thought of looking up wiki.

Cheers………..H

[lomapaseo]

leave the spanners in the box, and fix it with the laptop then.


not always, sometimes giving it a good whack with a spanner sorts out a loose pin issue.

[bcgallacher]

The technical term is 'light percussion' - looks better than 'thumped' in the log entry- many electrical and avionics problems are fixed this way!

[Dave Wilson]

In practical terms instead of say on a light SEP like a Cessna 182 having seperate throttle, pitch and mixture controls there's just one lever and you let the computer sort everything out. Never tried it, supposed to be OK.

[Conor.P.M]

The technical term is 'light percussion'

We refer to this as "percussive maintenance".

I had an old 1962 Volvo Amazon with a missing gear tooth on the flywheel, and for those regular occasions when the that missing tooth lined up with the starter motor a little light percussive maintenance got the starter back in touch with the engine and the car back on the move.

[DX Wombat]

DA40 TDi - pre take off power checks: aircraft into wind, brakes on, hold in button, clunk, click, whirr, whizz etc all done in a few seconds. :ok:

[Dave Wilson]

Do you have to keep the button pressed in? What happens if the engine makes expensive noises, does it have a 'I'm buggered I better shut down' mode?

[Beech_Boy]

When we were doing the PA28 conversions to the thielert Diesel engine, perform runs were done the same way by a single press off the button (not holding it in) and of it would go and cycle the prop and take up to different engine rpm's etc, we would just monitor on a laptop.

Same as with the global express aircraft now, no need to manually input the fuel on startup once positive N1 has been obtained like challengers and hawkers etc, simply just flick a switch and off it goes, if something does go wrong the the FADEC kicks in and aborts the start.