Aircraft Electrical System

As a cabin crew or air hostess you may receive questions on aircraft electrical system fitted on the aircraft. This can come out of curiosity or the needs of the travelling passengers. The passengers may need to charge up their hand phones or computers.

If you are a cabin crew for a jetliner, the main system is ac and the secondary system is DC. The data are as follows:

A. Primary system
-115/200 volts 400 hertz 3 phases
- provided by the generator in the engines and in the auxiliary power unit.

B. The secondary system
- 28 V direct current, derived from the AC system. It has a battery for emergency.


Currently the aircraft can be fitted with special outlet to give the standard home power, which can be 240 or 115 volt.


note: APU - or auxiliary power unit is a small jet engine installed to provide the electrical power and pneumatic for the ground operation. It can also be operated in flight below a specific height. The pneumatic is used for engine start or airconditioning.

The aircraft electrical system is complex for most passengers, unless they are engineers by background. The power of the aircraft is big enough to service a small town.

B747 dash 8

Boeing was the first to create the big jet. The lead is now being threatened by the European A380.

The Boeing - 8 was announced in 2005 and due to some delay, the expected delivery of the first passenger version, B747-8 intercontinental is expected to be in the middle of 2011.

Boeing is seem to have to work hard to fight the influence of Airbus, though A380 was not spared with the delivery problem

Enjoy the video on the B747-8. I thought it is really a beautiful aircraft, can not wait for the first ride..

How aircraft flies

Although a cabin crew not need to know how an aircraft fly, its knowledge is useful especially in dealing with the customers. The passengers may be curious and may be asking questions and expect the crew to b able to provide the answers.

This short video introduce the basic concept of how the lift is generated by the wing. The lift is one of the 4 forces acting on the aircraft. We have the lift acting against the gravity, the thrust working against the drag.

A380 Singapore and Emirates

The introduction of A380 had changed the equations in the airlines operation and the competitions'scenario. The biggest jet liner are offering operation efficiency and economy unmatched by Boeing.The customers services had been transformed by making more luxury benefits for the demanding customers.

Despite having technical problems caused by basic communication among the major partners, airlines are still opting to wait for the delivery of the ordered liners. This is simply because other aircraft will not be able to match the operation economy of the super jumbo.

The customers service can be upgraded, look at what these to leading airlines have to offer.