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A - Alpha (NATO phonetic alphabet)
AC - Advisory Circular ACARS - Airline Communications Addressing and Reporting System ACAS - Aircraft Collision Avoidance System ADC - Air Data Computer ADI - Attitude Direction Indicator ADS - Air Data System ADS-B - Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast AES - Aircraft Earth Station AFCS - Automatic Flight Control System AFIS - Automated Flight Information System (Honeywell) AHRS - Attitude-Heading Reference System Air Data - Values computed from pitot, static and temperature measurements, usually by means of a digital computer; ARINC 575 defines output AMLCD - Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display AMSS - Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service AOA - Angle of Attack AOG - Aircraft on Ground A/P - Autopilot ARINC - Aeronautical Radio, Inc.; a nonprofit corporation owned by member airlines to define form, fit and function of avionics equipment and to provide radio communication services ARINC 419 - Digital information transfer characteristics as applied in ARINC 500-series equipment specifications ARINC 429 - A standard for broadcast digital information transfer systems for general applications ARINC 561 - Inertial navigation system specifications ARINC 571 - Inertial sensor attitude-heading reference system specifications ARINC 575 - Digital air-data system specifications ARINC 700-series - All-digital equipment specifications for new-generation transport category aircraft ASCB - Avionics Standard Communication Buss (Honeywell) A/T - Autothrottle ATI - Air Transport Indicator; standare case sizes ranging nominally from 2 ATI to 6 ATI ATM - Ait Traffic Management ATN - Aeronautical Telecommunications Network ATR - Air Transport Radio; ARINC form-factor / standard case dimensions; 1 ATR = 8 MCU AVOD - Audio / Video On Demand |
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B - Bravo (NATO phonetic alphabet)
BCD beam width - Included angle of weather radar interrogation signal B-GAN - Broadband Global Area Network BITE - Built-in Test Equipment B-NAV - Basic area navigation; concept of easing congestion in European airways by requiring aircraft to be fitted with equipment that will allow more direct routings by ATC BRG - Bearing |
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C - Charlie (NATO phonetic alphabet)
CAT - Clear Air Turbulence; high-altitude turbulence encountered where no clouds are present CAT I - An ILS approach providing operation down to a 200-foot decision height and an RVR of not less than 2,400 feet CAT II - An ILS approach providing operation down to a 100-foot decision height and an RVR of not less than 1,200 feet CAT IIIa - An ILS approach providing operation with no decision height to and along the surface of the runway with external visual reference during the final phase of landing and with an RVR of not less than 700 feet CAT IIIb - An ILS approach providing operation with no decision height limit to and along the surface of the runway without reliance on external visual reference, and subsequently taxiing with an external RVR of not less than 150 feet CAT IIIc - An ILS approach providing operation with no decision height limit to and along the surface of the runway and taxiways without reliance on external visual reference CCD - Cursor Control Device CDI - Course Deviation Indicator CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access CDU - Control Display Unit CFIT - Controlled Flight Into Terrain CMOS - Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor CMU - Communications Management Unit CNS/ATM - Communication, Navigation, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management (supersedes "FANS" terminology) COM - Communications Contact Digitizer - A mechanical device that converts analog information to digital codes by means of electrical contacts COTS - Commercial off the shelf (i.e., computer hardware, software or avionics) CPDLC - Controller Pilot Data Link Communications CRT - Cathode Ray Tube CSDB - Commercial Standard Data Buss CVR - Cockpit Voice Recorder |
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D - Delta (NATO phonetic alphabet)
DADC - Digital Air Data Computer DAMA - Demand-Assisted Multiple Access (satcom broadband) DAP - Datalink Aircraft Parameters dB - Decibel; acoustic measurement unit DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite DFDAU - Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit DGPS - Differential Global Positioning System; LA- prefix refers to Local-Area DGPS; WA- prefix refers to Wide-Area DGPS signal retransmission schemes DH - Decision Height Digitizer - Electronic device capable of converting information to a digital format; usually refers to encoding devices that convert sensed altitude into a transponder code DME - Distance Measuring Equipment drms - Distance root mean squared DRVSM - Domestic Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums DTK - Desired Track DTU - Data Transfer Unit Duplex - Separate channels for transmission and receiving |
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E - Echo (NATO phonetic alphabet)
E- (as a prefix) - Used with "ADI" or "HSI" to designate an electronic display using a CRT EAROM - Electronically Alterable Read-Only Memory; a type of digital memory device ECDI - Electronic Course Deviation Indicator EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory EFIS - Electronic Flight Instrumentation System EGNOS - European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service EICAS - Engine-Indicating and Crew-Alerting System EIDS - Electronic Information Display System EL - Electroluminescent display Eurocae - European Organization for Civil Aviation Electronics; a regulatory agency for avionics certification |
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F - Foxtrot (NATO phonetic alphabet)
FADEC - Full-Authority Digital Engine Control FBL - Fly-by-light FBW - Fly-by-wire FCS - Flight Control System FD - Flight Director FDAU - Flight Data Acquisition Unit FDE - Fault Detection and Exclusion (GPS) FDR - Flight Data Recorder FLIR - Forward-looking infrared FMCS - Flight Management Computer System FMS - Flight Management System FOG - Fiber-optic gyro |
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G - Golf (NATO phonetic alphabet)
Gas Discharge - A type of luminescent digital display GCR - Ground Clutter Rejection GLONASS - Commonwealth of Independent States satellite navigation system GLS - GPS Landing System GLU - GPS Landing Unit (provides precision GPS guidance to the runway in CAT III operations) GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite System GPADIRS - Global Positioning, Air Data, Inertial Reference System GPS - Global Positioning Satellite GPWS - Ground Proximity Warning System GS - Groundspeed G/S - Glideslope |
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H - Hotel (NATO phonetic alphabet)
HF - High Frequency HFDL - High Frequency Data Link HGA - High Gain Antenna HIRF - High Intensity Radiated Field; sometimes seen as HERF (high-energy radio frequency or high-energy radiated fields) HITS - Highway in the Sky HPA - High-Power Amplifier HSD - High-Speed Data HSI - Horizontal Situation Indicator HUD - Head Up Display Hz or Hertz - Cycles per second; used to describe radio frequencies; usually with the prefix k for kilo (1,000), M for mega (one million) or G for giga (one billion) |
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I - India (NATO phonetic alphabet)
IAC - Integrated Avionics Computer; the central processor of a Honeywell integrated cockpit system IAPS - Integrated Avionics Processing System; the central processor of a Rockwell Collins integrated cockpit system ILS - Instrument Landing System Inmarsat - International Mobile Satellite Organization INS/IRS - Inertial Navigation System / Inertial Reference System ITU - International Telephone Union; refers to certain HF channels IVSI - Instantaneous Vertical Speed Indicator |
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J - Juliet (NATO phonetic alphabet)
JAR - Joint Airworthiness Requirement; issued by the European Joint Airworthiness Authority |
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L - Lima (NATO phonetic alphabet)
LAAS - GNSS local area augmentation system Laser IRS - Inertial Reference System deriving angular rate information by measuring Doppler shift between two contra-rotating light beams L-band - A radio frequency between 390 and 1,550 MHz LCD - Liquid Crystal Display LED - Light-Emitting Diode LEO - Low Earth Orbit (satcom) LNAV - Lateral Navigation guidance LOC - Localizer; the course guidance component of an ILS Looks per minute - Scanning or sweep rate of a weather radar antenna Loran-C - Hyperbolic grid navigation system based upon measured time differences (TD) from pulse transmissions LPV - Localizer performance approach (WAAS) LRU - Line Replaceable Unit |
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M - Mike (NATO phonetic alphabet)
MCDU - Multifunctional Control Display Unit; part of FMS MDAU - Maintenance Data Acquisition Unit MDU - Multifunction Display Unit MFD - Multifunction Display; the third or fifth tube in an EFIS, it replaces the weather radar screen and displays radar data, navigation maps, checklists and other information MNPS - Minimum Navigational Performance Specifications MOPS - Minimum Operational Performance Standard (RTCA) MTBF - Mean Time Between Failures |
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N - November (NATO phonetic alphabet)
NA - Not Available NANU - GPS notice advisory to Navstar users NAT - North Atlantic Tracks NMS - Navigation Management System NMU - Navigation Management Unit NPA - Non-Precision Approach NVM - Nonvolatile Memory; digital memory that retains information through system shutdown |
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O - Oscar (NATO phonetic alphabet)
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer OM - Outer Marker (glideslope) Optical Digitizer - Any device using a photo sensor that can convert analog information to digital code |
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P - Papa (NATO phonetic alphabet)
PCU - Passenger Control Unit (cabin system) PDU - Primary Display Unit Peak Power Output - The maximum transmitter power output measured over a short time; usually used to rate pulse transmissions PEP - Peak Envelope Power; a standard electronic rating of any AC source, including a radio transmitter PFD - Primary Flight Display Pulse - A transmission of very brief duration used to carry information by using time measurement or as a series of pulses representing code PVT - Position, Velocity, Time (WAAS) |
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Q - Quebec (NATO phonetic alphabet)
QFE - Field elevation pressure QNH - Sea level pressure |
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R - Romeo (NATO phonetic alphabet)
RA - (1) Radio Altitude; (2) Resolution Advisory (TCAS) RAIM - Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (GPS) RAM - Random Access Memory RCU - Radio Control Unit REACT - Rain Echo Attenuation Compensation Technique (Honeywell weather radar feature) RF - Radio Frequency RFU - Radio Frequency Unit (satcom component) RMI - Radio Magnetic Indicator RMU - Radio Management Unit RNAV - Area Navigation RNP - Required Navigation Performance RS-232, RS-422 - Serial digital formats used for data transmission R-T - Receiver-Transmitter combine in a single line-replaceable unit RTCA, Inc. - An association of U.S. governmental and industry aeronautical organizations dedicated to advancing aeronautics through consensus and recommendations RVSM - Reduced Vertical Seperation Minimums |
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S - Sierra (NATO phonetic alphabet)
SAMPE - Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Equipment SAR - Search and rescue Satcom - Satellite communications system SDU - Satellite data unit (Satcom) SELCAL - Selective calling system (used primarily with HF) Simplex - Single frequency for both transmitting and receiving in communications; generally implies a push-to-talk function and verbal procedures SITA - Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautique; an international organization providing global telecommunications and information services to the air transport industry Squitter - The transmission of a specified reply format at a minimum rate without the need to be interrogated (transponders) SSB - Single sideband; a highly efficient form of radio transmission wherein information is carried on a sideband instead of the center carrier in order to gain range performance; usually used in HF communication transceivers SSCVR - Solid-state cockpit voice recorder STC - Supplemental type certificate Synchro - Any device capable of converting mechanical position into an analog electronic signal Synthesizer - Frequency synthesizer; an electronic circuit capable of generating multiple frequencies from a single crystal oscillator |
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T - Tango (NATO phonetic alphabet)
TA - Traffic advisory (TCAS) TAS - True airspeed TAT - Total air temperature TAWS - Terrain awareness and warning system TCAS - Traffic alert and collision avoidance system TIS - Traffic information system TKE - Track error TMC - Thrust management computer TO/GA - Take off / Go around; operating mode TRK - Track over the ground TSO - Technical Standard Order; a performance specification and production compliance criteria applied to avionics and defined by FARs and RTCA, Inc. TTG - Time to go TTS - Time to station TTR - TCAS II receiver/transmitter TTW - Time to waypoint Turbulence Mode - Flight control system mode in which a "softer" response to gust upsets is programmed |
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U - Uniform (NATO phonetic alphabet)
UHF - Ultra high frequency (300 to 3,000 MHz) UTC - Universal coordinated time |
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V - Victor (NATO phonetic alphabet)
VAC - Volts alternating current VDC - Volts direct current VDL - VHF data link VHF - Very high frequency (30 to 300 MHz) VNAV - Vertical navigation, or the capability to compute pitch-axis maneuvers and altitude-related points in space VOR - Very-high-frequency omni range VSI/TCAS - Vertical speed indicator / traffic alert and collision avoidance system VSI/TRA - Vertical speed indicator / traffic, resolution advisory |
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W - Whiskey (NATO phonetic alphabet)
WAAS - GNSS wide area augmentation system WPS - Words per second; the rate at which a flight data recorder chronicles events WPT - Waypoint |
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X - X-ray (NATO phonetic alphabet)
X-band - Frequency range in which most general aviation weather radars operate XTK - Cross track; cross-track error |
