ACFT - Flight Instruments Flashcards
What are the 6 Traditional flight instruments on an A/C? (6)
- Altimeter
- Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
- Air Speed Indicator (ASI)
- Attitude Indicator/Artificial Horizon
- Heading indicator/Gyrosyn compass
- Turn Co-ordinator
Which 3 instruments are from air pressure / altitude? (3)
- Altimeter
- Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
- Air Speed Indicator (ASI)
Which 3 instruments are Gyroscopic? (3)
- Heading indicator/Gyrosyn compass
- Attitude Indicator/Artificial Horizon
- Turn Co-ordinator
”HAT”
How does a Pitot system work? (5)
- Uses atmospheric pressure
- Senses Dynamic & Static air pressure
- 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
What is an Altimeter? (1)
An instrument used to measure the altitude of an aircraft above a fixed level
What can the implications be of an incorrect Altimeter subscale? (3)
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
What is the VSI? (2)
VSI - Vertical Speed Indicator
- Measured in 100 fpm intervals
- 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
What is ASI?
ASI - Air Speed Indicator
Measures the difference between STATIC pressure and the DYNAMIC pressure received from an aircraft’s pitot tube
What are the V-Speeds for Airspeed Indicators? (4)
What types of ASI errors are there? (4)
- Compression errors
- Instrument error
- Position errors
- Density errors
What types of Pitot system blockages are there? (2)
- A Static blockage - Overread in Descent
- A Pitot blockage - Underread in Descent
“PUD - SOD”
Why do Aircraft use Mach Number? (2)
- 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
What errors can Mach meters suffer from? (2)
- Instrument error
- Pressure error
What are the 2 important properties of a Gyroscope? (2)
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
Positions of an A/C vs Attitude Indicator diagram