Flight Recorder inventor dies
Discussion
David Warren, the inventor behind the flight recorder for passenger airlines died yesterday.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/21/flight.re...
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/21/flight.re...
Rubbish reporting as usual.
It looks like he was the inventor of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) - not the Flight Data Recorder FDR).
Flight Data Recorders (the item MOST commonly referred to as The Black Box) have been around in some form or other since the 1930s. Early versions recorded a limited number of parameters using a needle to etch a trace on a foil tape.
Later versions used magnetic tape.
The latest versions are "solid state" and record thousands of parameters onto micro-chips.
It looks like he was the inventor of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) - not the Flight Data Recorder FDR).
Flight Data Recorders (the item MOST commonly referred to as The Black Box) have been around in some form or other since the 1930s. Early versions recorded a limited number of parameters using a needle to etch a trace on a foil tape.
Later versions used magnetic tape.
The latest versions are "solid state" and record thousands of parameters onto micro-chips.
Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 21st July 21:42
pushthebutton said:
Eric Mc said:
Rubbish reporting as usual.
It looks like he was the inventor of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)
A microphone then? It looks like he was the inventor of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)

Of course, just because he invented a voice recorder didn't mean that they were actually installed in all airliners. They didn't become compulsory on British airliners until after the crash of Trident G-ARPI at Staines in 1972.
eharding said:
Aren't we all being a bit grumpy here?
This old boy seems to have contributed to aviation safety with an original idea, much as it may seem to be completely obvious to us in these enlightened times.
As such, it seems a shame to have a bunfight over his obituary.
Not having a go at him - just the usual sloppy journalism.This old boy seems to have contributed to aviation safety with an original idea, much as it may seem to be completely obvious to us in these enlightened times.
As such, it seems a shame to have a bunfight over his obituary.
BBC have just repeated the "he invented the Flight Data Recorder" error too - unless of course, he really did.
Let's here what they say -
Nope - confirmed. Definitely the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) - not the Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
And they have now interviewed a chap from the AAIB - which they referred to as the Air Accident Investigation BUREAU. The "B" stands for "Branch", not "Bureau".
Does anybody care about getting things correct any more?
Let's here what they say -
Nope - confirmed. Definitely the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) - not the Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
And they have now interviewed a chap from the AAIB - which they referred to as the Air Accident Investigation BUREAU. The "B" stands for "Branch", not "Bureau".
Does anybody care about getting things correct any more?
Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 23 July 16:32
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