Controls and Indications

The A330 flies on screens. Between your hand and the surfaces there are only sensors, wires, and computers (see Flight Control Fundamentals), so almost everything you know about the health of the flight controls, you read off a display. The previous thirty articles took the system apart and showed how it works inside. This one turns the system around and asks the pilot's question: what do I see, and what do I touch? The centre of gravity of the answer is one synoptic — the ECAM F/CTL page — which puts every surface position, all three hydraulic systems, all five computers, and the actuator power supplies on a single screen. Around it sit the sidestick order on the PFD, a handful of E/WD memos, and the physical controls on the pedestal and overhead.

Read this article and you should be able to take one F/CTL page, name every symbol on it, say what each colour means, and point at what has gone wrong.

[!warning]- This is the indication article, not the mechanism article — the controls appear only as a quick reference.

How the sidestick is springloaded, how pedal position is signalled, and how trim is computed are deep-dived in Pilot Controls and Sidestick Priority Logic. Here the controls are listed only so the cockpit picture is complete; the weight of this article is on what the displays tell you. The handling of each fault symbol you find on the F/CTL page belongs to EFCS Computer Failures, Control Surface Fault Spectrum, and QRH Jam and Loss of Control.

1. The pilot's window — three layers of indication

Because there is no aerodynamic feedback through the stick, the crew's awareness of the flight controls is built from three display layers, each used at a different moment:

• Routine scan (PFD). The sidestick order cross on the PFD (a ground tool), the FMA, and the speed scale with its protection markings.
• The synoptic (ECAM F/CTL page). The flight controls' "health chart": every surface position, the three hydraulic systems, the five computers, and the actuator power supplies on one screen. The pre-takeoff flight control check and any in-flight fault diagnosis run on this page.
• Memos and warnings (E/WD). Green memos such as GND SPLRS ARMED, and the F/CTL cautions/warnings that pull up the synoptic automatically.

The rest of the article enlarges each layer, then walks the page across a flight.

2. The ECAM F/CTL page — one screen, the whole system's health

The F/CTL page is the spine of this chapter. The layout below is reconstructed from the FCOM DSC-27-20-30 description of each indication — every symbol named on it is taken verbatim from that section (the exact pixel geometry of the surface scales would need the FCOM page figure):

┌──────────────────────── ECAM  F/CTL  PAGE ────────────────────────┐
│                                                                   │
│    L AIL     ELEV L   ELEV R     R AIL        □ = white box       │
│   □──┤├──□   □─┤├─□   □─┤├─□    □──┤├──□      (full-travel range) │
│    index moves on a scale;  index in box / on edge = full travel  │
│                                                                   │
│    ┌────────┐     PITCH TRIM      ┌────────┐                      │
│    │ SPD BK │     THS 2°DN–14°UP  │ RUDDER │   position / PTLU /  │
│    └────────┘     (B+Y feed it)   └────────┘   trim / NORM CTL    │
│                                                                   │
│    SPOILERS (per panel):  ▲ extended   ─ retracted   ✗ fault      │
│                                                                   │
│    HYD :   G    B    Y     normal / low (downstream leak valve)   │
│    COMP:   PRIM 1 2 3   SEC 1 2    operates normally / failed     │
│    ACTUATORS (AIL/ELEV/RUD): available / hyd low / PRIM elec flt  │
│                                                                   │
│    Colour: GREEN = normal/available · amber = fault · white = box │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Three things to read off it before any single symbol:

1. Every surface carries a position index on a scale. Ailerons, elevators, rudder, the THS (PITCH TRIM), and each spoiler panel have their own moving index — this is your direct evidence that the computer has actually moved a surface, and how far.
2. The white boxes are a check tool, not a fault. They sit at the ends of the primary surfaces and mark the acceptable range for the flight control check — the index reaching the box is how you confirm full travel (§3).
3. Faults show up as colour + symbol. Green is healthy; amber is fault / degraded / unavailable (the aileron index goes amber, a computer box goes amber, a hydraulic system reads low). The whole page reduces to one habit: find the amber.

The maintenance system gets the same picture: per FCOM DSC-27-20-30, for the spoiler indications, Same indications are displayed on WHEEL page.

3. Surface position — index, scale, and the white box

FCOM gives the fullest description for the aileron, and that one description sets the rule for every primary surface. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

AILERONS POSITION INDICATION ... Indicates the position of the associated aileron. The indexes moving in front of a scale. ... The index becomes amber when both servojacks associated to the affected aileron are not available.

and the note that governs the flight control check:

The white boxes located at each end of the primary flight control surfaces indicate acceptable range for the flight control check. The full travel is shown when the index is in the box, or on the edge of the box.

In plain terms:

• The index tracks the surface live. Move the sidestick, the aileron moves, and its index runs along the scale. That is your window onto "the computer flew the surface for me."
• Amber means more than half-dead — it means fully unpowered. The index only goes amber when both servojacks of that aileron are unavailable. A single servo failure leaves the other one still driving the surface, and the index stays green. So an amber aileron index = that aileron has nothing driving it — read it together with which hydraulic system or computer was lost (each aileron has two servocontrols, per Ailerons).
• The white box is the bullseye for the pre-takeoff check. Full stick should drive the index into the box. That is the objective criterion for the flight control check — not stick feel, but the index reaching the box.

The elevator follows the same logic. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30, the elevator position indication is Normal operation until Both associated actuators are not available; the same white-box note applies. The page also shows the aileron's neutral position changing with configuration — a neutral in clean configuration, in CONF 1+F (droop), and in CONF 2, 3, full (droop) — so droop is visible on the page, not just inferred.

[!warning]- An amber aileron index does not mean "one servo failed" — it means both are gone.

The intuitive reading of an amber surface index is "something broke." The precise reading is stricter: per FCOM the index becomes amber when both servojacks associated to the affected aileron are not available. With one servo lost the surface is still driven and the index stays green. So amber is the signal that the surface is genuinely unpowered on that side — a much stronger statement than "a fault exists somewhere," and the reason you always pair an amber index with the hydraulic/computer picture below it.

4. Resources on the same screen — hydraulics, computers, actuator power

The F/CTL page is not only a map of surfaces; it lays the two resources the flight controls live on — hydraulics and computers — on the same screen. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

HYDRAULIC SYSTEM PRESSURE INDICATION ... Hydraulic system pressure is normal. Hydraulic system pressure is low (downstream the leak valves). PRIM/SEC INDICATION ... The flight control computer operates normally. The flight control computer failed.

This is the page's real power: in one glance it answers how many hydraulic systems are still feeding the surfaces (Green / Blue / Yellow) and how many computers are still in charge (PRIM 1/2/3, SEC 1/2). That maps straight onto the master logic and degradation ladder of EFCS Computer Architecture: an amber PRIM/SEC box tells you which computer has dropped out; a low hydraulic system lets you anticipate a law change — including the counter-intuitive "lose Green and the master moves from P1 to P2 even though P1 is healthy." The F/CTL page is the live instrument panel of flight-control degradation.

Two precision points hide in that quote:

• "downstream the leak valves." The pressure shown is the pressure at the flight-control actuators (downstream of the leak valves that can isolate a leak), not raw system pressure upstream — so it answers the operationally relevant question, "does this surface still have muscle?"
• Actuator power is a three-state indication, not on/off. This is the most mis-read symbol on the page. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

AILERON/ELEVATOR/RUDDER ACTUATORS INDICATION ... The power supply of the associated actuator is available. The power supply of the associated actuator failed (hydraulic system low pressure). The associated electrical failure is detected by PRIM.

So the actuator box has three states, and the two failure states have different root causes: one is a hydraulic failure (that system is low, the actuator has no pressure), the other is an electrical failure detected by PRIM. Do not collapse them into one "lost" — the first sends you to chase which of G/B/Y is gone, the second points at the computer/electrical channel, and the two lead to entirely different handling (32/33).

[!warning]- The actuator power symbol is three states, not two — and the two failures are unrelated.

"Powered / not powered" is the wrong mental model. FCOM gives three distinct symbols: available, failed (hydraulic system low pressure), and electrical failure detected by PRIM. A hydraulic-low actuator and a PRIM-detected electrical fault look like "the same lost actuator" if you read sloppily, but they have nothing in common: chase a hydraulic system in the first case, chase the electrical/computer path in the second. Reading them as one symbol is exactly how a degradation gets diagnosed in the wrong direction.

5. Pitch trim and yaw control — the lower half of the page

The lower half of the F/CTL page carries the THS (PITCH TRIM) and the whole yaw control block, and both deserve a careful read.

5.1 Pitch trim (THS)

Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

PITCH TRIM POSITION INDICATION ... Normal operation. The THS electrical control is lost. Normal operation. The value varies from 2 ° down to 14 ° up. ... B + Y hydraulic system pressure is low.

The THS position normally reads in the band 2° down to 14° up. There are two abnormal states: THS electrical control lost (only the mechanical trim wheel remains — see §6 on the wheel's mechanical priority) and B + Y hydraulic low. That last symbol also names the THS hydraulic source outright — the stabiliser is driven by the Blue and Yellow systems, so it is the loss of both B and Y that threatens trim. That is the direct, on-page answer to "can I still trim?"

5.2 Yaw control

The rudder gets four separate symbols on the page. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

Rudder Position Indication ... Normal operation. B + G + Y hydraulic system pressure is low.

Rudder Travel Limiter or PTLU Indication ... Normal operation. Travel Limiters 1 and 2 failed.

The rudder trim systems 1 and 2 are inoperative.

NORM CTL Message ... The normal rudder command is lost. The rudder is then controlled by the Backup Control Module.

Taking them one at a time:

• Rudder position only reads abnormal when all three hydraulic systems (B + G + Y) are low. The rudder is one of the few surfaces every hydraulic system can drive (its three servocontrols run in parallel — see Rudder and Yaw), so it takes losing all three before the position symbol degrades. The rudder carries the deepest hydraulic redundancy on the aircraft.
• Travel limiter / PTLU — the rudder's usable travel narrows with speed (high-speed limiting, to protect the fin); the page flags an abnormal symbol only when both travel limiters have failed.
• Rudder trim position reads Normal operation. The position varies from -29.2 ° to +29.2 ° on this effectivity (other effectivities display −25° to +25°); it goes abnormal when the rudder trim systems 1 and 2 are inoperative. This is a configuration/effectivity-dependent value — do not memorise it as a single universal number, and note it is a different display from the pedestal RUD TRIM indicator in §6 (which shows L/R direction and 0–25°).
• NORM CTL is the rudder's degradation signature: the normal rudder command is lost and the rudder passes to the Backup Control Module (BCM) — the back-up yaw path (Mechanical Back-up and BCM). See NORM CTL and you know the rudder has dropped from its primary control chain to the back-up chain.

6. The pedestal and overhead — the controls you touch

The mechanism of these controls lives in 02/16; here is the cockpit quick reference of what your hands reach for.

Sidesticks (lateral consoles). Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

The sidesticks are springloaded to neutral. They are not mechanically linked, and do not receive feedback from the flight control surfaces. When the autopilot is engaged, the sidesticks are locked in the neutral position.

Above a force threshold the stick unlocks, the autopilot disengages, and the AUTO FLT AP OFF alert triggers — the basis for dual-input and priority logic (16).

Pedestal. The RUD TRIM selector, RESET pb, RUD TRIM indicator, SPEEDBRAKE lever, and the two PITCH TRIM wheels. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

• RUD TRIM commands the rudder trim actuator at 1 °/s of rudder travel in clean configuration; with slats/flaps extended, 1 °/s ... for quick inputs / 3 °/s for inputs longer than 1.5 s. The RESET pb drives the trim to zero at 3 °/s, after which an indication of up to 0.6° (L or R) may be observed. The RUD TRIM Position Indicator Displays rudder trim direction (L or R) and value (0 to 25 °). The rotary switch and RESET pb are not active with autopilot engaged.
• SPEEDBRAKE lever sets the speedbrake surfaces and arms the ground spoilers: To arm the ground spoilers, the lever must be pulled up when in the RET position. When the lever is armed (or reverse thrust is selected), all spoilers' surfaces will automatically extend at landing, or in case of a rejected takeoff.
• PITCH TRIM wheel — the only mechanical channel on the aircraft. Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

Both pitch trim wheels provide mechanical control of the THS and have priority over electrical control.

That mechanical priority is why, when THS electrical control is lost shows on the page (§5.1), the wheel still trims the stabiliser (THS).

Overhead. The guarded PRIM and SEC pushbuttons control the FCPCs and FCSCs; each carries an amber FAULT light that comes on with the associated ECAM caution when a failure is detected. The TURB DAMP pb adds turbulence-damping to the normal-law elevator and yaw-damper command.

Memos (E/WD). The everyday one to scan before landing — per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

GND SPLRS ARMED : This memo appears in green, when the ground spoilers are armed.

A green GND SPLRS ARMED is your confirmation that the spoilers will deploy automatically at touchdown to dump lift (Ground Spoilers). The display also carries SPEED BRK and TURB DAMP OFF memos.

7. The sidestick order on the PFD — a ground tool that hides at lift-off

Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30:

On ground, after first engine start, side stick position indications appear white on both PFDs. The indication disappears when the Nose Landing Gear is fully extended.

The sidestick order cross is a ground tool: it appears in white after the first engine start and vanishes the moment the nose gear is fully extended at lift-off. On the ground it does two jobs — it backs up the flight control check (the white cross follows your stick while the F/CTL page index runs to the white box) and it lets both pilots see who is moving the stick and how much during taxi and the take-off roll (the dual-input picture of 16). Once airborne, you fly on attitude and trajectory, not on "how much stick am I holding," so the cross retires and stops competing for PFD attention.

[!warning]- The sidestick order cross is not shown in flight — it is a ground-only indication.

A common misconception is that the white sidestick cross stays on the PFD throughout the flight. It does not: per FCOM it appears on the ground after first engine start and disappears when the nose landing gear is fully extended at lift-off. In the air there is no sidestick position cross to read — which is exactly why pilots are taught to fly the result (attitude, flight path) rather than the input.

8. The flight control check — the standard technique

Section 3 said the criterion for full travel is "the index reaches the white box." How the check is flown — who calls what, and for how long — is a standard FCTM technique, and the flight control check is this article's headline scenario. Per FCTM PR-NP-SOP-100:

At a convenient stage, before or during taxi, and before arming the autobrake, the PF silently applies full longitudinal and lateral sidestick deflection. On the F/CTL page, the PM checks and calls out full travel of elevators and ailerons, and correct deflection and retraction of spoilers.

The PM calls each position — "Full up, full down, neutral" and "Full left, full right, neutral" — while the PF silently checks that the PM calls are in accordance with the sidestick order. The rudder is checked next. Per FCTM PR-NP-SOP-100:

The PF then presses the PEDAL DISC pb on the nose wheel tiller, and silently applies full left and full right rudder, and then returns the rudder to neutral.

Two requirements make or break the check. First, the input must be held long enough. Per FCTM PR-NP-SOP-100:

Full control input must be held for sufficient time for full travel to be reached and indicated on the F/CTL page.

Then the PM repeats the sidestick check independently. Second, if it is done on the move, per FCTM PR-NP-SOP-100:

If this check is carried out during taxi, it is essential that the PF remains head-up throughout the procedure.

The technique distilled to what a pilot must remember:

9. Reading the page across a flight

Six short scenes turn the synoptic into a moving picture:

1. Pre-takeoff flight control check (§8) — call up the F/CTL page; PF deflects full and holds until each index reaches its white box; PM calls travel; rudder checked after PEDAL DISC. Confirm every surface index green and to the box, PRIM 1/2/3 + SEC 1/2 green, G/B/Y green, PITCH TRIM in the 2°DN–14°UP band, no NORM CTL. Any amber, or any NORM CTL, is investigated.
2. GND SPLRS ARMED — arming the ground spoilers before landing shows the green memo, confirming automatic lift dump at touchdown.
3. One PRIM drops — its PRIM box goes amber (with the matching F/CTL PRIM x FAULT caution); surface indexes stay green and the law is usually still Normal. Handling in 32.
4. One aileron index goes amber — both servos of that aileron are gone; read it with the hydraulic/computer picture to judge the degradation (33).
5. A hydraulic system reads low — the matching G/B/Y symbol goes amber (downstream the leak valves); anticipate which actuators lose muscle and whether the master shifts (Green loss → P2, per 01).
6. NORM CTL appears in the yaw block — normal rudder command lost, rudder on the BCM; the rudder's degradation signature, handled per ECAM (32/33).

After lift-off the PFD sidestick cross disappears (nose gear extended) and the scan returns to attitude and trajectory, with the F/CTL page held in reserve for fault diagnosis.

Self-test

[!note]- Q1. On the ECAM F/CTL page, what is the white box for, and how do you judge full travel?

The white boxes sit at each end of the primary flight control surfaces and mark the acceptable range for the flight control check. Per FCOM, the full travel is shown when the index is in the box, or on the edge of the box. So the pre-takeoff full-deflection check is judged not by stick feel but by watching the F/CTL page index reach the white box — index in the box (or on its edge) is the pass criterion.

[!note]- Q2. When does the aileron position index turn amber, and what does that mean?

The index becomes amber when both servojacks associated to the affected aileron are not available (per FCOM). The key word is both — with a single servo lost the other still drives the surface and the index stays green. So an amber aileron index means that aileron is genuinely unpowered on that side, and you read it together with which hydraulic system or computer was lost (each aileron has two servocontrols).

[!note]- Q3. How does the F/CTL page let you read the flight controls' resource health in one glance?

Beyond surface positions, the page shows the three hydraulic systems (normal / low downstream the leak valves), the five computers (PRIM 1/2/3, SEC 1/2 — operates normally / failed), and the actuator power supplies. In one look it answers "how many hydraulic systems still feed the surfaces, how many computers are still in charge, and which actuators are powered" — which maps directly onto the master logic and degradation ladder of ATA-27-01. It is the live instrument panel of flight-control degradation.

[!note]- Q4. The actuator power symbol — is it on/off? How many states, and why does the distinction matter?

It is three states, not two: per FCOM, available; failed (hydraulic system low pressure); and electrical failure detected by PRIM. The two failure states have different root causes — one is hydraulic (chase which of G/B/Y is low), the other electrical/computer (chase the PRIM channel). Collapsing them into a single "lost actuator" leads the diagnosis in the wrong direction.

[!note]- Q5. When does the sidestick order appear on the PFD, when does it disappear, and why?

Per FCOM, it appears in white on both PFDs on ground, after first engine start, and disappears when the Nose Landing Gear is fully extended at lift-off. It is a ground tool: it backs up the flight control check and lets both pilots see who is moving the stick during taxi/take-off roll. Airborne, you fly on attitude and trajectory, so the cross retires rather than clutter the PFD.

[!note]- Q6. What does a NORM CTL message in the yaw block tell you, and how does the page show the THS losing electrical control?

NORM CTL means the normal rudder command is lost. The rudder is then controlled by the Backup Control Module — the rudder has dropped from its primary chain to the BCM back-up chain. For pitch trim, the page reads Normal operation in the 2°DN–14°UP band normally, and shows two abnormal states: the THS electrical control is lost (the mechanical trim wheel, which has priority over electrical control, still trims) and B + Y hydraulic system pressure is low (the THS is driven by the Blue and Yellow systems).

Key takeaways

References

Per FCOM DSC-27-20-30 (Flight Control System — Controls and Indicators): ECAM F/CTL Page — spoilers/speed-brakes, hydraulic system pressure, PRIM/SEC, aileron position and amber-both-servojacks condition, configuration neutral positions, white-box flight-control-check note, aileron/elevator/rudder actuator three-state power indication, elevator position, pitch trim 2°DN–14°UP and THS electrical-control-lost / B+Y-low, yaw control (rudder position B+G+Y low, travel limiter/PTLU, rudder trim −29.2°/+29.2° and −25°/+25° effectivities, NORM CTL → Backup Control Module); Side Stick Indications on PFD; Pedestal (RUD TRIM rates and RESET, RUD TRIM indicator 0–25°, SPEEDBRAKE lever arming, PITCH TRIM wheel mechanical priority); Lateral Consoles (sidesticks springloaded, not linked, AP-locked); Overhead Panel (PRIM/SEC amber FAULT, TURB DAMP); Memo Display (GND SPLRS ARMED green). Per FCTM PR-NP-SOP-100 (Flight Controls — flight control check technique: hold time, PF/PM calls and cross-check, PEDAL DISC before full rudder, both-pilot check, head-up during taxi). The colour-reading convention (green normal / amber fault / white check-box and order), the "find the amber" framing, the "F/CTL page as the live instrument panel of degradation" positioning, the ground-tool rationale for the sidestick cross, and the "rudder carries the deepest hydraulic redundancy" inference are integrative synthesis drawn from the FCOM symbol descriptions and the architecture of ATA-27-01, not verbatim manual statements. Configuration-dependent values (rudder trim range) are presented with both effectivities, not fixed to one number. Hydraulic-system dependency per ATA-29.

Independent study material, not an Airbus publication and not endorsed by the manufacturer. Always defer to the current operator FCOM, FCTM, and QRH for operational use.