Flight Instruments Flashcards
What two types are flight instruments grouped into?
control and performance
What is the normal shape that primary flight instruments take? In what order do the instruments typically appear?
Beyond the primary flight instruments, what other types of instrumentation are typically found in a cockpit?
Engine instruments and navigation instruments
What is the difference between analogue and digital instruments, with relation to their sensors?
Analogue are direct sensing (i.e. the measured variable has a mechanical link to the instrument in the cockpit where it is displayed: sensed —> measured —-> displayed)
Digital are remote-sensing, where the measured parameter is converted into electronic signals by transducers before being digitally converted for display
What is the typical type of display you would find in a glass cockpit?
AMLCD (Active Matric Liquid Crystal Display)
What is the mean failure time of a AMLCD and a CRT?
AMLCD = 15000 - 20000 hours
CRT = 300 hours
what are 4 distinct advantages of glass/digital cockpits?
Reliability (no moving parts/more robust)
Accuracy (digital analysis, calibration and computation eliminates significant errors)
Flexibilty (can repurpose on display and configure to your needs)
Cost (less need to replace and cheaper internals)
what are PFIs?
Primary flight instruments
name the six PFIs
Attitude indicator (AI)
Airspeed indicator (ASI)
Altimeter (ALT)
Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI)
Turn and Slip indicator (T&S)
what instruments typically fall within the “T” Shape of the PFIs?
ASI AI ALT
HSI
what instruments are added to the “T” shape to form a six-pack?
T&S (bottom left) and VSI (bottom right)
What equation can explain the difference between Control and Perfomance flight instruments?
Power + Attitude = Performance
What instruments are for Control?
Power instruments
AI (attitude indicator)
what instruments in the PFI demonstrate performance?
ASI, ALT, VSI, HSI, T&S
what two variables are measured to determine airspeed, alt, and vertical speed?
Pitot pressure and static pressure,
in analogue instruments this will be measured through aneroid capsules and displayed through linkages and gears
in digital settings, this pressure differential will be computed through an ADC
What does ADC/ADS stand for?
Air Data System / Air Data Computer
How would analgoue instruments determine an aircrafts Horizontal Situation or attitude
Through rate and displacement gyros with magnetic field detection (MAG) systems.
What does MAG stand for?
Magnetic field detection
What does AHRS stand for?
Attitude and Heading Reference system
what other element do digital systems consider alongside MAG readings when considering aircraft heading and attitude?
GPS data
besides airspeed what can ASI’s indirectly tell us about our aircraft?
Pitch (if engine performance constant)
besides altitude, what can the altimeter tell us about our aircraft?
Pitch
besides heading, what can the HSI/Compass tell us about our aircraft
its bank or yaw
besides vertical speed, what can the VSI tell us about our aircraft
Pitch
beside rate of turn, what can a Rate of Turn indicator tell us about our aircraft?
its bank or yaw
beside balance, what can a T&S indicator tell us about our aircraft?
its yaw
how long should a standby instrument last on its own in the event of a total power failure?
30 minutes at minimum
what is the difference between a partial panel and a limited panel?
a partial panel = failed pitot-static instrumentation
a limited panel = failed gyroscopic instruments
