By Michael J. Martin, EAA 1047599
There is something special about the number three.
There are the Three Musketeers (Athos, Porthos, Aramis), three primary colors (in physics and light — red, blue, green), three wise monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil), three Olympic medals (gold, silver, bronze), three traffic light colours (red, yellow, green), and a personal favourite, the three flavours of Neapolitan ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry).
The “Rule of Three,” a renowned writing principle, suggests that when things come in threes, they are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. Think of a famous phrase or slogan, and chances are it is structured in three.
We put “blood, sweat, and tears” into our effort to get you to “stop, look, and listen” when you cross the street.
In math, any number having a power of three can be written as the cube of that number. The cube of a number is the number multiplied by itself twice, the cube of the number is represented as the exponent 3 on that number. Numbers get very big, very fast when you cube them. For example, if we cube the number 5, it becomes 125. There is huge amplification in the power of three.
In gaming, we often use the “best two out of three” to decide a match. If we used the best one out of two, it is a stalemate. So, the odd value of three creates a 66.6% outcome. It is deemed to be decisive compared to the power of 2.
In threes, we find comfort, humour, symmetry, balance, and clearly defined and efficient outcomes. These traits, when combined, are stress reducing.
So, when Canadian Michael Baranowsky, EAA 1381366, set out to build his airplane (C-FWMB), he decided to pursue a design path built on the number three. An airplane that was stress free, inherently safer, and more fun to fly. It possessed all three of these traits because of the power of three.
Many hundreds or even thousands of EAA homebuilders have constructed a Van’s RV airplane. That is not unique. In fact, it is common amongst homebuilders. But what Michael did was unusual. He engineered in triple redundancy in every instrument.
If knowledge is power, then Michael has triple power.
Along with his close friend and co-builder, Ed Morson, EAA 1389061, these two gentlemen designed an instrument panel like few others. Is it perfect? Nothing in life is technically perfect — true perfection is an illusion. But a design of this calibre has all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics to be as good as it is possible to be. A general definition of perfection is the flawless state where everything is just right. “Perfect” means without any kind of flaw, and “perfection” is then the condition where everything is just 100-percent great.
In critical applications like avionics, where safety is paramount, the additional redundancy of a triple system can be crucial in ensuring the scheme’s continued operation even in the face of multiple failures or faults. Triple redundancy is often used for vital systems like flight control and navigation, whereas less critical systems may use double redundancy or even single redundancy in some cases.
Triple redundancy in avionics significantly enhances reliability and safety, but it is important to note that its effectiveness depends on various factors, including the quality of system design, maintenance, and the specific avionic systems in question. Statistically, triple redundancy is designed to provide an extremely high level of reliability, with the goal of reducing the probability of a critical system failure to an exceedingly low level.
Triple redundancy in avionics refers to a design principle that involves having three separate and independent systems or components performing the same function within an aircraft’s control or monitoring systems. This redundancy is a critical safety measure to enhance reliability and fault tolerance in aviation systems. If one of the three systems fails or produces erroneous data, the other two can cross-check and outvote the faulty one, helping to ensure the accuracy and reliability of critical avionic functions, such as navigation or flight control. Triple redundancy significantly reduces the risk of system failures and is a key element in aviation safety standards.
Typically, avionic systems are designed to meet stringent safety standards, and the probability of failure per flight hour is extremely low. The specific reliability and failure rate statistics can vary depending on the system, manufacturer, and aircraft type.
For critical avionics systems, the goal is often to achieve a probability of failure per flight hour (PFFH) in the range of 10^-9 to 10^-7. This means that the probability of a failure occurring in a critical system during one flight hour is between 1 in a billion (10^-9) and 1 in ten million (10^-7). Achieving such low failure rates is essential for ensuring pilot and passenger safety and the overall reliability of aviation systems.
Triple redundancy plays a crucial role in achieving these low failure rates by providing multiple layers of protection against faults and failures. However, it is important to remember that these statistics are based on extensive testing, modelling, and analysis, and they are subject to continuous improvement and monitoring in the aviation industry to maintain and enhance safety standards.
Michael and Ed both practice the Japanese martial arts discipline of Karate. This is where they met many years ago. There are many reasons why people turn to martial arts: Some want to defend themselves, and some join for spirituality. Everybody is searching for meaning, as without an aim, we are lost. When we fix a goal, the path appears, and to find the meaning of life we must walk the path and let life blossom from there. Using these ancient Japanese lessons to guide their engineering thinking and processes, they pursued a path for an instrument panel that offered peace, ease, and reduced stress in flying the airplane. The design was not driven solely on bits and bytes, of course these technical attributes were present, but to design to a higher level you need to look beyond the numbers and find the qualities that make flying more fun.
Every aspect of this RV instrument panel is triple redundant.
They can tolerate catastrophic failure of two complete and standalone systems and still have a third system ready for use to safely fly home and arrive alive.
Statistically, the odds of failure are hard to calculate. The answer is in the many millions to one. Your odds of winning the lottery are close by.
In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability and decreasing the failure rate of the system, usually in the case of fail-safe designs found in spacecraft, nuclear plants, and other systems that if they failed would result in unacceptable losses. We expect triple redundancy in commercial airplanes. But, to have it all within a general aviation airplane is extraordinary.
When a workload utilizes multiple independent and redundant subsystems, it can achieve a higher level of theoretical availability than by using a single subsystem. For example, consider a workload composed of two identical subsystems. It can be completely operational if either subsystem one or subsystem two is operational. For the whole system to be down, both subsystems must be down at the same time. Now, add the power of three to make the overarching system provide three independent and redundant subsystems. The panel’s robustness is dramatically enhanced. The chance of a complete systems failure is near to zero.
Is it possible for a total instrument panel failure? Yes, a total malfunction would not be impossible, but it would be highly and statistically very unlikely.
