Transac® C-1100: Transistorized Computers for Airborne and Mobile Systems

A pilot's job has become so complex that he must rely increasingly on support from automatic aids for such functions as aircraft stabilization, navigation, cruise control, and landing. The Transac® C-1100 series digital control computers are designed to handle these functions in a single computer for commercial and military aircraft. The C-1100 computers are entirely transistorized for small size and utmost reliability. While their modular structure allows variations in many features for different applications, the computers are characterized by high precision, typically one part in 106, and fast operation, typically 60,000 additions per second. The general-purpose stored-program organization allows the C-1100 to be shared by various tasks during flight, and enables the same computer to execute a large variety of operations merely by changing the program. A powerful system of internal and external decisions permits the computer to respond to both the en-route instructions by the pilot and to conditions of the system as sensed in one of the 64 data channels. A representative problem involving dead-reckoning and VOR-TAC navigation, automatic control of the aircraft, and fuel management illustrates how the computer is programmed. The functional and physical description should provide the reader with enough background to consider the computer in terms of his own application.