Here is a wider view of the center instrument panel and
the throttle quadrant.
Directly forward of the throttle quadrant is the Weather
Rader. This is used by the pilots to detect any dense weather formations
in the aircraft's flight path. To the right and left of the WX radar
are the navigation radios.
The three rows of instruments in the center panel are
engine displays. Off the top of my head, the top three are N1 RPM,
N2 RPM and EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp). The others are related to oil
pressure and fuel flow, but I'm not exactly sure.
To the right of the red handle (the Pnumatic Brake handle)
is are the marker beacon indicators. The toggle switch above them
turns on and off the audible beacon signal. The clear (silver in
this picture) is the Inner Marker, the orange is the Middle Marker and
the blue is the Outer Marker. These lamps will blink in syncronization
with the beacon signal given off by each navigation marker as the aircraft
flies over them. Unlike most PC based flight simulator software,
the light intensity and beacon noise isn't immediately at full volume.
The marker beacon transmitters project their signal in an upward direction,
somewhat in the shape of an inverted cone. As the aircraft enters
the radius defined by the cone, the beacon recievers begin to operate.
The light intensity and audible beacon sound slowly increase until the
aircraft is directly over the beacon and they slowly weaken as the aircraft
leaves the location of the beacon.
Just to the right of the Outer Marker light is the backup
ADI.
Here you can see a very important little control that's
in the cockpit of nearly all modern airliners.
Directly to the left of the yoke you'll notice a black,
arc shaped lever of sorts. This is the aircraft tiller. The
tiller control is a pie shaped rotating wheel that controls the nosewheel
steering while the aircraft is on the ground. This is used instead
of the rudder pedals because much more precise control and range of movement
can be had.
This is the 727 Flight Engineering Station. I can't
even *begin* to describe what most of this stuff does. *g*
This station controls the various engine and electrical
systems in the 727. From here the FE can monitor and adjust the onboard
power supplies, air conditioning, etc. The panel in the lower left
hand corner of the image is an audio selection panel that controls what
radio or other device goes to what speaker system.
