The microprocessor revolution can in no way be described as a ‘silent’ revolution, unusually perhaps, a technological advance has caught the imagination of the mass media, who are fond of postulating its effect on our lives.

Within the Air Transport industry much coverage has been given to the development of ‘visibly’ different avionic equipment such as cathode ray tube (CRT) flight instrumentation, active control technology and flight management systems. These advances have been made possible solely on account of the microprocessor, which has, in addition, also revolutionised existing avionic disciplines.