Hornet maintenance (aircraft system management)

Abstract

A step toward life cycle cost reduction was the introduction of a Flight Incident Recording and Aircraft Monitoring Set (FIRAMS) in the F/A-18 Hornet. FIRAMS provides onboard nonvolatile storage of operational flight information and maintenance parameters. It also integrates fuel and engine displays and performs the fuel gaging and transfer functions. FIRAMS also promotes the concept of using onboard computers for air vehicle system management. This concept was implemented into a large portion of the F/A-18C/D fuel system. The FIRAMS subsystem uses a complex correlation of data for fuel control. Future applications of the experience gained in the FIRAMS program include onboard fault detection and fault isolation.<>