Another question when you or one of the pilots have a chance: I have frequently heard the Confidence test being run in the cockpit by the flight crew when boarding or (on occasion) when I'm seated in the first cabin.
The rules can be very confusing regarding the testing of radar. A lot of civil aviation authorities still have some very old fashioned rules about when to not run the radar (despite the advances of radar technology). i.e. limits on running radar within relatively large distances of aircraft being fuelled, people and buildings. Maintenance manuals still seem to have the same antiquated restrictions.
On the other hand, I've just read an FCOM which says running the radar in a hangar in "TEST" is ok (is this to appease engineers?), yet engineering manuals say that radar systems do transmit (for a short period) during test. The newer radars have far lower outputs and have protection against very high signal level returns (expected if, say, the terminal building walls or hangar walls were only a few feet away) but would you want to test the limits of that protection?
Some FCOM manuals may say no ops within 50 feet of a fuel
spill rather than a fuelling aircraft.
I would expect the flight crew to test the radar during taxy, but I'll let the pilots chime in here.
Although some flight crew do go into the CMC at times (Some know how to change the Performance Factors on the Maintenance pages), they really are opening up a can of worms. Some CMC tests may result in the systems being tested more deeply (e.g. If carried out as per the maintenance manual fire tests will lock all four engine bleed valves closed). Confidence Tests fall into a vague area. Sometimes the maintenance manual specifies the use of them, sometimes the CMC Ground Tests. I'm not sure why the flight crew would need to use them (especially with passengers nearby or if fuelling is in progress)
Rgds
JHW
