Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine May 2019 | Page 146

Garuda Indonesia / History of Garuda Indonesia
FFCC Wiweko’s concept
for the aviation world
Airbus A300-B4 FFCC
He had the ability to
assemble an aircraft model
based on the aircraft design
illustration from an aviation
magazine only. Together with
his friend, Fred Raas, he
founded the teenage
Bandung flight club on
December 10, 1937.
Wiweko was a pioneer
member of the Republic of
Indonesia Air Force, as well
as a pioneer of Indonesian
Airways, making Indonesia’s
first commercial flight to
Burma. The duties and
functions of Indonesian
Airways personnel and
aircraft were eventually
merged back into the
Indonesian Air Force.
Wiweko was one of
the nation’s founders
who succeeded in raising
Indonesia’s name in the
world of aviation.
Konsep FFCC Wiweko
untuk Dunia Penerbangan
E/ Garuda Indonesia is
proud of the fact that it
was the first to use – and
to develop the concept of
– wide-body aircraft manned
by two cockpit crew, now
known as the Forward
Facing Crew Cockpit (FFCC).
Although there was debate
about the pros and cons of
this idea within the aviation
world at the time, with the
development of technology,
the concept has been
applied around the world
today.
Initially, the aircraft cockpit
was designed to be manned
by two pilots and a flight
engineer. However, Wiweko,
who was acting CEO of
Garuda Indonesian Airways
(now Garuda Indonesia),
had a far-reaching vision.
Wiweko questioned the flight
engineer’s function as during
the flight, the flight engineer
did not undertake any tasks,
simply sitting behind the pilot
on the plane. This issue arose
144
after the test flight of an
Airbus A300 at the Airbus
Industrie factory in Blagnac,
France in September 1977.
One of the tasks of a flight
engineer on aircraft at the
time was to operate several
flight instruments behind
the pilot. However, on the
Airbus A300, the instrument
panel was completely
automatic and all the flight
instruments were in front
of the pilot – we are
familiar with now. The
flight engineer’s seat
was maintained at that time
as a concession to European
trade unions but actually
was not needed on the
new Airbus A300 aircraft.
Based on his previous
experiences, where he had
initiated the simplification of
cockpit crew on the Douglas
DC-8 four-engine aircraft
from five to three crew, and
flown solo across the Pacific
Ocean, Wiweko came to the
conclusion that the Airbus
A300 need only be
manned by two cockpit crew.
The two-man cockpit crew
concept changed the history
of world aviation. Wiweko
also became involved in
the design of the cockpit for
Airbus aircraft with a capacity
of 266-360 passengers.
Garuda Indonesian Airways
received its first Airbus
A300-B4 FFCC (from a total
of nine planes ordered) on
January 18, 1982 at the
Saint Martin hangar in
Blagnac, Toulouse.
Wiweko was born in Blitar
on January 18, 1923 and
grew up with a strong
interest in aerospace.
I/ Indonesia patut
berbangga, maskapai Garuda
Indonesia menjadi pencetus
ide dan pengguna pesawat
berbadan lebar dengan
dua awak kokpit pertama
di dunia yang dikenal
sebagai Forward Facing
Crew Cockpit (FFCC).
Meskipun terdapat pro
kontra dari dunia
penerbangan namun
seiring perkembangan
teknologi maka konsep
tersebut telah digunakan di
seluruh dunia hingga saat ini.
Awalnya desain kokpit
pesawat diciptakan untuk
diawaki dua pilot dan satu
flight engineer. Namun,
Wiweko yang saat itu
berperan sebagai Direktur
Wiweko came to the conclusion
that the Airbus A300 need only
be manned by two cockpit crew.