>So you put a sensor on to make sure the frobulator is >working, and ring an alarm if it isn't. > >But the sensor might fail, so you make the pilot >test the frobulator sensor before takeoff. >At takeoff, the pilot goes to max power and rolls down the >runway. At some point the gummifrunchy overheat lamp goes on. >Should he: > >a) take off anyway? > >b) Try to stop > >This is a hellishly complicated problem. It depends on an appreciation I got to experience this firsthand. I was on a flight through Pittsburgh (the old airport) on a Friday night. EVERYBODY wants to get home. My flight from Ft. Wayne came in on schedule. My connecting flight was 2 hours late. Turns out they had been delayed by "mechanical problems" at the originating airport. They left 2 hours late. En-route, the plane developed more "mechanical problems" - the smoke detector in the lavatory had failed, detecting smoke when none was there. They continued onward to Pittsburgh. Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, it took an hour to replace the faulty smoke detector. We boarded the plane 3 hours late (I should have been HOME 2 hours ago). Nerves were on edge everywhere. We pulled out from the gate, and started heading toward the ramps, when suddenly the plane veered around back toward a gate. Seems the NEW smoke detector failed, too! They brought the A&P's back on, they checked out the problem, and we disboarded. Turned out that the smoke detectors were working perfectly. There was a leak in the hydraulic system in the tail that was not detected by the hydraulic monitors. I was more than happy to get on a DIFFERENT airplane. I could have driven home from Pittsburgh in the amount of time I spent there. But thanks to "faulty" sensors I'm still alive. Andy ================================================================== Andy Kunz Life is what we do to prepare for Eternity ------------------------------------------------------------------ andy@rc-hydros.com http://www.rc-hydros.com - Race Boats andy@montanadesign.com http://www.montanadesign.com - Electronics ==================================================================