AviationGeeks.com - The cockpit of the Airbus A380

The cockpit of the Airbus A380 looks more like a flight deck of a futuristic space shuttle than an airplane. Although, the cockpit was designed to be similar to other airbuses to decrease crew training cost.

The A380 has improved glass cockpit and fly-by-wire flight controls that are controlled by joystick on each side. The improved glass-cockpit includes eight fully interchangeable 15-by-20 cm (5.9-by-7.9 in) liquid crystal displays. Two of the displays function as Multi-Function Displays, two as navigation displays, one as system display, one as engine parameter display and two as Primary Flight Displays. The Multi-Functional Displays, which hasn´t been used by Airbus before, makes the flight management system easier to navigate and include mouse and QWERTY keyboards.

Unlike the Boeing 747 which has its cockpit on the upper deck, the A 380 has its cockpit on the lower deck. The cockpit is more spacious than we are used to in western built aircraft and it features a crew restroom and seated resting area. 

The A380 uses Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA), real-time computer network airborne systems with Integrity-178B Operating System and 100baseTX fast-Ethernet which connect the systems together and minimizes wiring. The A380 has a The Network Systems Server (NSS) which eliminates manuals and charts that pilots usually have to have onboard.

Even though the cockpit is not as stylish as the Dreamliner cockpit, it has a lot of new and exciting features that makes the pilot´s life easier.