How To Study The Boeing 787 Manuals
787 Guide • November 18, 2020
Got manuals. Will study.
Where do you even begin? I’ve gotten that question a few times now, so let me give you my suggestion how to best study the 787 from scratch.
This assumes that you have gotten the official manuals (FCOM, QRH and FCTM) and maybe also the 787 Guide app.
It also kind of assumes that you have flown some other airliner jet before, but if you haven’t the strategy would be the same, albeit with a much steeper learning curve.
FCOM - Systems Description
Start here. In fact, start with the 787 Guide, but it’s probably a good idea to jump back and forth between the two. Read a systems chapter in the 787 Guide first to get an overview, then do the heavy lifting and read the respective chapter in the FCOM.
I wouldn’t recommend starting on page one and read the FCOM cover to cover since it’s sorted in alphabetical order with no pedagogical thought put into the presentation.
Sure, you might wanna start with Airplane General to get an idea of what the aircraft and flight deck looks like. But even that chapter becomes heavy, real quick.
I recommend the following order:
1. Electrics
Almost everything on this aircraft is electrical, so it makes sense to start here and to understand this system first.
Further building that foundation. Once you know the electrics and hydraulics you are in a pretty good position to better understand the other systems. The hydraulic chapter is also a fairly light chapter which is easy to digest.
3. Flight Controls
This is a big chapter, so you might as well get started. The flight controls rely heavily on the hydraulic system, but also the electrical system which is new if you’ve flown other Boeings. The fly-by-wire concept is also quite central to understanding the 787 so pay attention.
4. Warning Systems
4. Warning Systems
It might be a good idea to throw this in here, especially if you haven’t flown an aircraft with EICAS before. By now you’ve seen a few references to advisory and caution messages and you probably wonder what’s up with those. This chapter explains the EICAS and all that stuff. Take your time to understand the different message types. It will help you further down the line.
UPDATE November 2020
This cannot be stressed enough. I've noticed that many pilots arrive in the simulator with a slightly hazy understanding of the warning systems. And it's clear that those who know exactly how the various warnings work have a nice advantage. Study this chapter in detail. You won't regret it.
5. All the other systems
At this point you’ve got the momentum going. Engine/APU, fuel, landing gear, fire protection, etc will be quite straight-forward.
6. Flight Management and Navigation
Oh yeah, this one is heavy and therefore worth mentioning. Reading about how to use a computer is probably the worst possible way to learn it. You may have noticed I also have another app, 787 FMC. This isn’t an CDU simulator, but simply a book with a different kind of interface. Instead of looking things up in chapters, you can see descriptions of every detail in the CDU by tapping on them. It might be helpful if you're new to the Boeing style FMCs. But otherwise, don’t stress out over it. You’ll get hands-on experience with the CDU/FMC on the type rating course.
All those other manuals
Perhaps you transferred to the 787 within your current airline, or maybe both the airline and the aircraft is new to you. Heck, it could even be that the type of operation is new if you go from short haul to long haul.
Either way, there will probably be some operations manuals and route manuals to read too. Save those for last, but try to get started as soon as possible. You want to be in a good place before beginning the line training.
Good luck!
And one last word of advice: never assume that something works the same as your previous aircraft just because it looks the same, or is called the same. Yes, I’m talking to you Captain When-I-Was-Flying-The-Triple, but this is also true for the ex-737 drivers.
Pilots transferring from the Airbus often do better because they assume everything is gonna be new, and therefore make sure to really learn the details.
Did you study your current aircraft in a similar order? Or do you have a better way - comment below!
A list of recent updates are found in the app, at the bottom of the welcome page (tap the pilot symbol in the menu). Older updates are listed here on the blog. 02 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: EL-11 Electrical - 235 Vac Bus Distribution 04 January 2021 - TCAS chapter updated with better graphics and more details on inhibits. 06 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FL-08 Fuel - Fuel Jettison 09 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FL-07 Fuel - APU Fuel Feed 11 January 2021 - Terrain Display chapter updated, new infographics added. 13 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: EL-12 Electrical - 115 Vac Bus Distribution. 14 January 2021 - 787 Guide Pro Fact Card FL-06 edited. Typo. - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: EL-13 Electrical - 28 Vdc Bus Distribution. 16 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: EL-14 Electrical - Large Motor Power Distribution 17 January 2021 - Other 787 Flight Control Features chapter edited. The abbreviation for Empennage Door Actuation System (EDAS) was incorrect. Big thanks to the reader pointing this out! 18 January 2021 - 787 Guide Pro Fact Card BL-34 updated with new photo - New FCOM bulletin published. Check out 787 Guide Pro Fact Card BL-35 for a summary. 20 January 2021 - Two new 787 Guide Pro Fact Cards added: AF-09 and AF-10, Automatic Flight, LNAV Armed and LNAV Engaged 22 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-11 - Automatic Flight - THR REF | VNAV SPD - Fact Card AF-03 edited. Typo. 25 January 2021 - Data Communications chapter updated with several new sections. 26 January 2021 - Minor edit to the Data Communications chapter, adding a missing caption to the COMM pages photo strip 28 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-12 - Automatic Flight - SPD | VNAV PTH 31 January 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-13 - Automatic Flight - SPD | VNAV ALT 04 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FC-13 - Flight Controls - Pitch Control 07 February 2021 - Minor edits to the "Hold on, that's your previous aircraft" chapter and the 787 Idiosyncrasies chapter - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FC-31 - Flight Controls - Flap Load Relief - 787 Guide Pro Fact Card EL-05 updated (battery locations added) and WS-12 edited (grammar) 09 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-14 - Automatic Flight - THR | VNAV SPD 13 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-15 - Automatic Flight - HOLD | VNAV SPD 14 February 2021 - Airmanship chapter updated with some suggestions on terrain awareness - Photo added to "Hold on, that's you're previous aircraft" chapter 17 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FC-14 - Flight Controls - Pitch Trim 20 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: FC-32 - Flight Controls - Slat Load Relief 21 February 2021 - Major update to the APU Basics chapter! - Other Emergency Exits chapter updated (new photo of the Overhead Door) 22 February 2021 - APU Basics chapter edited. Typo listing the Attended Mode criteria. 23 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-17 - Automatic Flight - THR | FLCH SPD 25 February 2021 - MCP chapter edited (added detail about altimeter setting use by the auto flight system) 26 February 2021 - New 787 Guide Pro Fact Card added: AF-18 - Automatic Flight - Heading and Track Modes 28 February 2021 - Simulator Survival Guide chapter updated with a section on handling skills.
How do you evaluate pavement bearing strength using the ACN-PCN system? Learn how to decode a PCN string like 74/R/A/X/T and find out if that pavement is strong enough for a Boeing 787.
A list of recent updates are found in the app, at the bottom of the welcome page (tap the pilot symbol in the menu). Older updates are listed here on the blog. 14 February 2020
- C argo Fire Protection chapter updated with detector numbers for the 787-10 27 February 2020
- Most Anti-Ice, Rain messages in the EICAS Reference section updated with various additional information and links to chapters. 01 March 2020
- Data Communications chapter updated with information about onboard wifi
- Airmanship chapter updated with advice on using said onboard wifi 17 March 2020
- Air Recirculation System chapter updated with a section about the filters. 29 March 2020
- Communications Basics chapter updated with information about the Reminder function 13 April 2020
- Electrical System Basics chapter updated with a section on Towing Power
- 787 Idiosyncrasies updated with a minor rant on the EFB :) 28 April 2020
- Cargo Fire Protection chapter updated with a better table listing the fire detectors 21 May 2020
- Autoflight Basics chapter updated with FMA details 25 May 2020
- Other Emergency Exits chapter updated with more escape hatch details 26 May 2020
- Flight Control Non-Normals chapter edited (corrected a typo) 01 June 2020
- Navigation and FMC Basics chapter updated with a section on the airline policy pages 09 June 2020
- Formatting and some links edited in Navigation and FMC Basics, Takeoff and Landing, and Command Upgrade Advice chapters
- Major update to the Hydraulic Basics chapter with information about the hydraulic fluid, isolation valves and engine driven pumps 18 June 2020
- Hydraulics Basics chapter updated with new In Detail headers. I will start adding these In Detail segments to sections that go well beyond the FCOM.
- Anti Ice and Rain chapter updated with new sections
- Engine Basics chapter updated with information about Ice Crystal Icing protection 21 July 2020
- Fire and Smoke chapter edited (links added)
- Air System Non-Normals chapter updated with further oxygen mask discussion 31 July 2020
- MEL chapter updated with a few more examples
- Weather Radar system edited (formatting) 05 August 2020
- HF Communications chapter edited (added info about failed antenna tuning) 12 August 2020
- New chapter "What happens at that speed, altitude, and distance?" added 5 September 2020 - Cabin Interphone and PA chapter edited (typos, format) - Fire and Smoke chapter updated (typo) - HUD chapter edited. Added section on HUD brightness - OPT: Takeoff Calculations chapter updated with more OPT data entry advice 16 September 2020 - E/E chapter updated (additional photo, access details, common mode event definition) - ECL - Electronic Checklist chapter updated with a discussion on the Loss of All Displays situation 27 September 2020 - Command Upgrade Advice chapter updated with more on decision making 30 September 2020 - "Hold on, that's your previous aircraft!" chapter updated with the often misunderstood FLCH mode
New 787 Guide iOS app update! Dark mode, notifications, automatic content updating, and a few other enhancements. Also, introducing 787 Guide Pro! Making it easier to stay current and prepare for the simulator every six months. 787 Guide Pro features a memory items trainer that uses images and videos to demonstrate each step. From my own experience, reading the QRH to memorize these procedures is difficult. Learning-by-doing is obviously the best method, but unfortunately the time you get in the simulator time is always limited. There are some good procedure training apps out there, but they require quite a bit of effort to use. So the idea was to make it easier and, yeah, more causal. Practice in the crew shuttle, or last minute before the simulator. Check out the free AIRSPEED UNRELIABLE sample in the app for a better idea of how it works. 787 Guide Pro also includes fresh new 787 Fact Cards that will cover every FCOM chapter and FCOM bulletins. As we already know, the FCOM is a heavy book to read and it has lots of superfluous text. This is why I started 787 Guide in the first place, to provide a better introduction. But what if you already know this airplane and you just need to quickly refresh the tech details every now and then? The Fact Cards fill this space, being an executive summary of the FCOM. In some cases, it’s been possible to condense several pages into one single card! As with the memory items trainer, they allow for casual but efficient study. At the moment there are over 170 cards, and more will be added weekly. The idea is to have a complete set within about a year. All FCOM Bulletins are currently covered, and will be kept up to date. You’ll get a notification on your phone whenever a new bulletin card, or any other card is added. The original app is still being updated with new content. No subscription is needed for that!
The 787 Guide app is a work in progress. It already contains some 400 pages, and 200 photos and illustrations but I'm adding new stuff every week. Simply tap the cloud icon in the app menu to download the latest content update. The About page (pilot icon in the app menu) has a complete list of the update history, but another great way to get notified of updates is to follow my Instagram account @787guide - I usually publish an Instagram story whenever I've added new content to the app. You'll see a collection of screenshots of those Stories in this blog post.
Back in July 2017 I was interviewed by @mega.aviation for his website. You can find it here , and I think it's worth a visit. He has been doing loads of interesting interviews with pilots from all around the world. What a great resource for aspiring pilots, but also others who are curious about what it's like to fly for a living. Here's his interview with me: 1) Tell us what made you want to become a pilot? The dream was always there since young age. I started paragliding when I was 15, which was all I could afford (and barely that). At age 17 I was incredibly fortunate to be accepted into a flight school that was government sponsored. My first lesson there was the first time I ever sat in an aircraft! 2) Where did you train and describe your experience training there? ACS. That flight school has since closed its doors, but the training was solid. It asked a lot from the students, we spent many evenings and weekends on the school premises. Many of my closest friends today I met back there. 3) What aircraft did you fly during your initial training? Cessna 152, 172 and 182 for single engine. Cessna 340 for multi engine. 4) What was your hardest part of training? ATPL theory. Already back then it was heavy, and I've heard it hasn't exactly gotten easier these days. 5) What advice would you give to aspiring pilot? Sounds like a cliche, but here it is: never give up. That's it. If you really wanna be a pilot and never give up, you're gonna be a pilot. Maybe you're gonna have to go fly single engine props in Ghana or Indonesia on the way.. but you'll make it happen. Stay positive. 6) What has been your best moment in the air? Anytime I'm asked to take an empty airliner on a ferry flight. It doesn't happen too often of course, but that feeling is great! No pax, no cabin crew, just me and the FO, like two buddies taking a 200 million dollar machine for a spin :) 7) What is your favourite destination to fly to? LAX. Love that RIIVR 3 arrival for its challenge and great views 8) What is the biggest misconception that people have about your job? That it's kinda easy after all, just autopilot and chill, right? No. If you're flying short haul you're probably under constant stress to meet the schedule. If you're flying long haul you constantly battle short and long term fatigue. No matter what you fly you feel the weight of the responsibility. Piloting ain't easy. 9) Was there something you wish you did prior to starting your flight training that would be beneficial for aspiring pilots to do? I wish I had learned proven study methods at early age. We just tell our kids "to study harder" but with very little instruction how. There is a lot of resources out there on how to learn more efficiently.