# Aviation: When did 'steam gauge' enter the lexicon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006 "2015-09-20T20:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/1 "2015-09-20T20:17:56Z")
I’ve heard ‘steam gauge’ as a reference to analogue instruments in aircraft for as long as I can remember. Or it seems I heard it back in the '80s, anyway. ISTR there were airliners in the late-'70s or early-'80s with ‘glass cockpits’, and I’m guessing that pilots who flew those airplanes invented ‘steam gauge’ to point out the superiority of their own cockpits over old-tech ones. So when did ‘steam gauge’, as it pertains to aircraft instrumentation, enter the aviation lexicon? (Please note: I know _why_ they’re called ‘steam gauges’. I’m looking for the when.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/2 "2015-09-22T02:18:12Z")
I can’t give you the exact date, but it will be subsequent to the introduction of [the following planes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cockpit): > [@](#): > > Early glass cockpits, found in the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90, Boeing 737 Classic, 757 and 767-200/-300, ATR 42, ATR 72 and in the Airbus A300-600 and A310, used Electronic Flight Instrument Systems (EFIS) to display attitude and navigational information only, with traditional mechanical gauges retained for airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and engine performance. Later glass cockpits, found in the Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767-400, 777, A320 and later Airbuses, Ilyushin Il-96 and Tupolev Tu-204 have completely replaced the mechanical gauges and warning lights in previous generations of aircraft, although they still retain some analog instruments as backups in case the EFIS displays malfunction. There would have been no reason to name something “steam” if it was state of the art, with nothing more advanced, so I am guessing the _terminus a quo_ to be at some point between the first and third years that the Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767-400, 777, and Airbus A320 began to be flown. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/3 "2015-09-22T03:27:43Z")
My exposure to aviation was very brief, and very limited geographically. I have never heard the term ‘steam gauge’ used for anything, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/4 "2015-09-22T03:34:58Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I can’t give you the exact date, but it will be subsequent to the introduction of [the following planes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cockpit): From the link: > [@](#): > > The success of the NASA-led glass cockpit work is reflected in the total acceptance of electronic flight displays beginning with the introduction of the MD-80 in 1979. If the first commercial application was in 1979, that fits with my recollection of sometime in the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/5 "2015-09-22T09:36:42Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I can’t give you the exact date, but it will be subsequent to the introduction of [the following planes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cockpit): > There would have been no reason to name something “steam” if it was state of the art, with nothing more advanced, […] This may not be correct. “Steam gauge” was likely _not_ a commentary on obsolete or old-style equipment, being adopted only after electronic displays were developed. Instead, the instruments were called steam gauges because that is what they resembled - the dials and indicators on steam-powered systems, be they locomotives, boilers or whatever. The following indicates that the term probably pre-dates the 1960s. > [@](#): > > Third generation jet fighters (early 1960s to circa 1970) > > The third generation witnessed continued maturation of second-generation innovations, but it is most marked by renewed emphases on maneuverability and traditional ground-attack capabilities. **Over the course of the 1960s, increasing combat experience with guided missiles demonstrated that combat could and would devolve into close-in dogfights. Analog avionics began to be introduced, replacing older “steam-gauge” cockpit instrumentation.** From [Fighter Aircraft](http://www.livingwarbirds.com/fighter-aircraft.php). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/6 "2015-09-22T16:24:54Z")
On the airliner side, the 767-200 was the first US design with any “glass cockpit” features. It first flew in revenue service in 1982. The Airbus A300-600 & A310 both entered service in 1983. These were the first. The 737-300/400/500 came out in 1984. The MD-80 did not get a glass cockpit option until much later. Each of these designs was what we’d now call hybrid, with the horizon and navigation display being computer generated on a CRT (or later LCD screen) with the rest of the flight instruments being traditional round dials. To my recollection, “Steam gauge” became popularized at the same time as “glass cockpit”. So the early 1980s, at least as applied to airliners. I think **Jimbuff314** ’s quote is anachronistic. IOW, the web page author is writing in 2010 or whenever about things in the 1960s, but using 2010 terminology while doing so. On the military side: In 1971 the A-6E was introduced with a hybrid cockpit similar to the decade later 767, etc. IOW, CRT(s) displayed the horizon and navigation info, while traditional gauges (or tape-style gauges) did the rest. The F-14 had a similar cockpit when introduced in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aviation-when-did-steam-gauge-enter-the-lexicon/732006/7 "2015-09-22T16:32:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > … The 737-300/400/500 came out in 1984. … Late edit: those were available with either glass cockpits or steam gauge. Almost everybody chose steam gauge. Only towards the end of the production run were some carriers (but not Southwest, the largest 737 operator) beginning to choose the glass option. USAF was sorta late to the glass cockpit revolution, with the F-16C in the late 80s being the first. Although as a matter of philosophy USAF had emphasized the HUD as the primary flight instrument since the mid 70s on the F-16A which was otherwise a steam gauge cockpit.