Questions tagged [flight-instruments]
Flight instruments provide the pilot with information about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as altitude, speed and direction; and are of particular use in conditions of poor visibility, such as in clouds, when such information is not available from visual reference outside the aircraft.
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Why do most light aircraft not have AoA indicators?
Why is an angle of attack indicator not commonly included on small airplanes? Is it too expensive?
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Why does a sudden tailwind/headwind change IAS?
I read the following statement: “tailwind quickly changing to a headwind causes an increase in airspeed and performance.
Conversely, a headwind changing to a tailwind causes a decrease in airspeed and ...
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Understanding how Attitude Indicator works?
Hi guys. The only doubt I have is if the roll and pitch gimbals shown on the top rotate or remain rigid in space holding the gyro when the airplane is pitched and/or banked. I think that they remain ...
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When does true airspeed equal indicated airspeed?
When would the TAS=IAS/CAS? When at sea level, pressure 29.92, and 15 degrees of temperature? What other realistic scenario both of these airspeeds are equal? Because it would be extremely rare to at ...
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When does true altitude equal indicated altitude?
Under what conditions is true altitude is equal to indicated altitude? When the sea level pressure is 29.92 in Hg and the temperature is standard for a given altitude, for example 9 degrees at 3000 ft?...
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"In the turn coordinator, the gyro is canted 30 degrees from the horizontal so it responds to roll as well as yaw"
According to Wikipedia, "In the turn coordinator, the gyro is canted 30 degrees from the horizontal, so it responds to roll as well as yaw." I don't understand this point. How does rotating ...
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The instrument that show the attitude in the F-16 cockpit in a dive glide slope but nose up attitude what will show? [closed]
An F-16 Fighting Falcon is nose up at 25 degrees angle of attack (AoA) and unable to keep the level flight path but it is in a $600$ feet per minute dive slope. Does the attitude direction indicator (...
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Manual or other information regarding Kollsman Instruments B40331-10-276 altimeter
I just purchased a used altimeter from eBay because it'll look pretty on a shelf, and I may add a computer interface to it. However, I need help finding information on it.
This (from what I've been ...
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Why aren't PFDs made as robust as the Integrated Standby Instrument System (ISIS)?
The integrated standby instrument system (ISIS) is a standby instrument used in many large airliners that provides airspeed, altitude, and attitude information to the pilot in the case of electrical ...
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What are Baro-Aiding and Baro-VNAV systems?
I've tried searching online as to what the architecture of these systems look like, and I can't seem to find any hardware information. And if it's not a hardware but instead a software, which software ...
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Should turns always be standard-rate?
I know that the turn coordinator has markings that allow you to turn at a particular rate, so you can use the TC and a clock or stopwatch to turn a particular number of degrees. Are you always ...
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At what point is the input data to glass cockpit PFDs converted to digital?
At a very basic level, primary flight displays take data from sensors, do calculations, and display the results on a screen. Of course, because they are digital computers, the input must be digital, ...
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Suction gauge pressure too high
What will happen to the gyroscopic instruments (heading indicator and attitude indicator) if the vacuum pressure is too high? Will they be sensitive or stable?
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What should I follow, if two altimeters show different altitudes?
My school airplane has a Garmin G5 Electronic Flight Instrument and round gauge altimeter,
but they have almost 50ft differential. The G5 shows 50 feet higher on the same altimeter setting.
So in IFR, ...
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What is the origin of the ‘six pack’ flight instrument arrangement?
I was wondering who came up with the modern ‘six pack’ flight instrument arrangement, when I realized that the old British blind instrument flying panel that was the standard across many airplane ...
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Terminology for roller counter mechanism components
I have here a Doppler drift and groundspeed indicator - I believe from a Decca Type 72 Doppler radar installation. It uses a servo-driven needle to display drift angle, and a roller counter to display ...
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Is the attitude gyro (artificial horizon) equipment on our DA40NG aircraft powered by electricity?
Is the attitude gyro (artificial horizon) equipment on our DA40NG aircraft powered by electricity?
While reading the flight manual of the plane, I saw an article about the emergency switch:
"by ...
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What is the name for the spherical type of attitude indicator that also shows heading?
Is there a special name for the type of attitude indicator or artificial horizon that is more or less a complete sphere and includes lines to show the aircraft heading? I've seen them in the cockpits ...
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How was altitude calculated before the invention of the altimeter?
I just read David McCollough's "The Wright Brothers," and was surprised to find several references to the exact altitude attained by various Wright airplanes. For example, on page 235:
The ...
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FMC and MCDU not talking
I have a test bed in which the FMC and MCDU are hooked up to one another.
FMC menu was populated on MCDU and was able to be navigated.
After making some changes to the FMC GPS #2 lines, the FMC ...
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How to accurately test glide ratio in given configuration?
How can glide ratio be accurately measured with typical GA airplane instruments in real conditions?
What, if any, specialty instruments are used for professional glide ratio testing (such as a ...
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What is this instrument for on the 747 flight engineer's panel?
Above the flight engineer's panel in a 747-100 there is an instrument that looks like a curved spirit level.
What was it used for?
source
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What does the AHRS do in the Garmin 175 series?
What function does the AHRS perform in the Garmin 175 series? And how long should it take to perform the initialization of the AHRS component in the initial system configuration process?
I am just ...
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Air density factor when calculating Airspeed
I am making my own attitude indicator / AHRS, like a Garmin G5. I am using two pressure sensors to measure altitude & airspeed via static /pitot lines.
Now I know the formula for calculating ...
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Why is this Cessna flap position indicator marked so irregularly?
Look at this flap position indicator as found on Cessna 310 models:
(source: eBay)
I would have expected it to be marked at 5° intervals, but it is marked irregularly instead (apart from the "...
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Where can a digital reading of the pitch/attitude of a plane be found?
Where can a digital reading of the pitch of plane be found?
E.g on Microsoft flight simulator, on the attitude dial, the pitch of the plane (e.g 10 degrees up above horizon) has to be manually read ...
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Difficulties of landing an airliner without instruments
I just heard the communications from an Embraer E170 that lost all instruments after takeoff and had to return to the airport.
Brickyard E170
Can someone explain the procedure from the pilot's ...
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Does baro altitude from ADSB represent height above ground level or height above mean sea level?
I am retrieving ADSB data from Opensky-network.org. I would like to know what the baro altitude represents, is it the height above ground level or above mean sea level ?
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Requirements for Logging practice Instrument approaches, (and holdings, and course interceptions) while in VMC
Does anyone know the FAA rational for requiring the second pilot on board to have access to a complete Fully functioning set of flight controls in order to act as safety observer for the purpose of ...
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Why wouldn't the angle markings on an attitude indicator match the horizon line?
This is a video of some guys messing around in a 737 simulator. Starting at about 1:13, when they have the plane in a pretty deep stall, the attitude indicator degree markings no longer line up with ...
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What is the difference between the two fields on the bottom half of the upper ECAM display on Airbus airplanes?
Note the two fields with green text on the bottom half of the display, separated by a white line. During abnormal conditions, the left portion may show "ECAM actions," but I do not know what ...
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What do ENR,TERM and APR mean in the HSI? Also how may I call this part on the HSI?
How should I answer when my instructor asks me what it means during the flight? I searched but couldn't find a definitive answer.
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Does integrated inclinometer in glass cockpit makes harder to read its reading?
I am a student pilot with just a little over 10 hours of flying and
when inclinometer (turn-slip indicator) became for me probably the most important flight instrument along with ASI which I ...
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What is the nature of the glider's vario lag?
I learned that glider's vario reading lags behind the vertical speed of the airmass. For example, when flying a steady circle and having a thermal not quite centered yet, the vario is reading a ...
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Can a Turn and Bank Indicator be combined with a VSI?
I have found a picture of a VSI on an AN-225 that seems to have a slip indicator with another indicator above the slip indicator. May I know if the scale and the slip indicator is a turn and bank ...
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Does a Antonov An-225 have a Turn and Bank Indicator?
May I know if there are any turn and bank indicators on the pilots instrument panel and where is it located at?
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How to reduce the volume of the GTN750 traffic warning beep?
We've got a GTN 750 with ADS-B IN and OUT. When we encounter traffic it emits a high pitched pulsing beep. It cannot be muted by any means - say you are on final and there's an aircraft holding short ...
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Please describe ram pressure in simple terms [duplicate]
Please someone describe the following sentence in simple words:
The Airspeed Indicator is calibrated for 'standard' sea level density, so it will only read TAS if the density of the air through which ...
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Can fuzzy dice help in IMC? [duplicate]
Just had this thought as I’ve read about multiple GA accidents that resulted from unintentional flight into IMC with planes not equipped for it (no attitude indicator), resulting in disorientation and ...
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Early turbojet RPM and thrust indicator
The flight operations handbook for the Douglas X-3 Stiletto (an experimental aircraft from the early 1950s) says that the instrument panel has instruments that indicate the thrust of the two ...
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Strange airspeed indicator in the Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The cockpit of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto has a rather weird looking airspeed indicator. (The leftmost instrument in the top row.) Two concentric circular scales, the outer one goes from 0 to 20, the ...
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How do aircraft on the deck of a moving aircraft carrier align their INS/IRS?
I know that the F/A-18C is equiped with a rotary switch for inertial alignment. The switch has two positions, one for ground and the other for carrier operations. Leaving aside the GPS/GNSS, I wonder ...
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Before certified GPS, how much did a full IFR panel cost?
Certified IFR GPS navigators are expensive, but the price of even used HSIs and DME seem to bring some perspective to that cost. How much did a full IFR upgrade cost back in the day before GPS?
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Why not use the alternate static port at all times?
One of my club's small planes apparently has an intermittent problem with moisture in the static port line, so the recommendation is to always fly with the alternate static port open. That leads me to ...
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Why is the ball no longer centred in a multi-engine airplane with inoperable engine?
I'm currently working on my PPL, and whilst trying to understand fully how the turn coordinator works, I got down a rabbit hole that makes me question my understanding, and that I can't dig myself out ...
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Does the Remote Indicating Compass (old type) both have precession motor and a torque motor?
I am teaching aviation students theory for the ATPL Exam. And one of the subjects, instrumentation, there is question on the exam that has stumped me.
It claims that the torque motor that will drive ...
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What does CPLD mean in aviation in general and on this altitude alerter?
I saw the shortcut CPLD on this altitude alerter from a Cessna 210, and could not work out what it could possibly mean:
What does it mean on this altitude alerter, ...
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What is the purpose of the leaf spring in an altimeter?
What is the use of the leaf spring present around the partially evacuated aneroid capsule of sensitive altimeter.
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How do you realign a directional gyro in an area of magnetic unreliability?
The primary means of determining heading in most small aircraft is the directional gyro, as this instrument is unaffected by the magnetic dip errors that cause a magnetic compass to give the wrong ...
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