ACFT - Flight Instruments Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 6 Traditional flight instruments on an A/C? (6)

A
  1. Altimeter
  2. Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
  3. Air Speed Indicator (ASI)
  4. Attitude Indicator/Artificial Horizon
  5. Heading indicator/Gyrosyn compass
  6. Turn Co-ordinator
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2
Q

Which 3 instruments are from air pressure / altitude? (3)

A
  1. Altimeter
  2. Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
  3. Air Speed Indicator (ASI)
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3
Q

Which 3 instruments are Gyroscopic? (3)

A
  1. Heading indicator/Gyrosyn compass
  2. Attitude Indicator/Artificial Horizon
  3. Turn Co-ordinator

”HAT”

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4
Q

How does a Pitot system work? (5)

A
  1. Uses atmospheric pressure
  2. Senses Dynamic & Static air pressure
  3. Works out the variation with altitude
  • Dynamic air - When the A/C is moving forwards
  • Static air - is not in the direct flow of air over the aircraft in flight
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5
Q

What is an Altimeter? (1)

A

An instrument used to measure the altitude of an aircraft above a fixed level

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6
Q

What can the implications be of an incorrect Altimeter subscale? (3)

A

Mis-setting the subscale will cause the instrument to under or overread

Higher pressure on subscale - Altimeter to Overread
Lower pressure on subscale - Altimeter to Underread

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7
Q

What is the VSI? (2)

A

VSI - Vertical Speed Indicator

  1. Measured in 100 fpm intervals
  2. Always a slight lag in the instrument and between six and nine seconds of steady climb, descent or level flight must elapse before an accurate reading is displayed
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8
Q

What is ASI?

A

ASI - Air Speed Indicator

Measures the difference between STATIC pressure and the DYNAMIC pressure received from an aircraft’s pitot tube

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9
Q

What are the V-Speeds for Airspeed Indicators? (4)

A
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10
Q

What types of ASI errors are there? (4)

A
  1. Compression errors
  2. Instrument error
  3. Position errors
  4. Density errors
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11
Q

What types of Pitot system blockages are there? (2)

A
  1. A Static blockage - Overread in Descent
  2. A Pitot blockage - Underread in Descent

“PUD - SOD”

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12
Q

Why do Aircraft use Mach Number? (2)

A
  • In order to overcome the problem of the
    difference between IAS and TAS at high altitudes
  • Expressed as fractions (or multiples) of the Local Speed of Sound
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13
Q

What errors can Mach meters suffer from? (2)

A
  1. Instrument error
  2. Pressure error
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14
Q

What are the 2 important properties of a Gyroscope? (2)

A

Inertia - The tendency of the gyro to keep a fixed position relative to space, often referred to as rigidity in space

Precession - When subjected to a force, the gyro acts as though the force has been applied at 90 degrees to the rotor, at a position 90 degrees forward in the direction of rotation of the rotor

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15
Q

Positions of an A/C vs Attitude Indicator diagram

A
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16
Q

What will a failure of a vacuum system cause? (1)

A

The Attitude Indicator to fail

17
Q

Turn & Turn-and-Slip indicators diagram

A
18
Q

What is a Rate turn? (1)

A

3° /sec
(360° in 2 mins)

19
Q

Turns using a Turn & Turn-and-Slip indicator diagram

A
20
Q

What is a Heading Indicator? (3)

A
  • It is tied to the vertical/yaw axis to indicate the aircraft’s heading on a rotating compass card
  • Remains aligned with the Yaw axis
  • Earth’s rotation (approx. 15° per hour) will cause the reading to gradually drift
21
Q

Is a Magnetic Compass mandatory on an aircraft? (1)

A

Yes

22
Q

What types of Magnetic compass Errors are there? (3)

A
  1. Deviation
  2. Dip
  3. Acceleration error
23
Q

What is deviation error? (1)

A

The compass needle is affected when aircraft electrical equipment is operated and by the ferrous metallic components in the aircraft

24
Q

How are Deviation errors mitigated? (1)

A

By calibrating the compass on a Compass Swing

25
Q

What is Dip error? (1)

A

The compass aligns itself with the earth’s magnetic field

26
Q

What is Acceleration error? (2)

A
  • This occurs during airspeed changes and is most apparent on headings of east and west
  • It is caused by a combination of inertia and magnetic dip