Question

Which one of the following is not a function of the FMS?

(a) Flight guidance and control of flight path

(b) Monitor and regulate speed of the aircraft

(c) Automatically switch between different types of communication

(d) Automatic control of engine thrust

The question was posed to me by my college director while I was bunking the class.

The question is from Flight Management Systems in section Autopilots and Flight Management Systems of Avionics

Answer 1

The correct option is (c) Automatically switch between different types of communication

Easiest explanation: The tasks of the FMS include Flight guidance and lateral and vertical control of the aircraft flight path, Monitoring the aircraft flight envelope and computing the optimum speed for each phase of the flight and ensuring safe margins are maintained with respect to the minimum and maximum speeds over the flight envelope, Automatic control of the engine thrust to control the aircraft speed. However, the communication systems are taken care manually by the pilot.