Basic six instruments

INTRODUCTION TO BASIC SIX INSTRUMENTS

The instruments used in controlling the aircraft’s flight attitude are known as the
flight instruments. There are basic flight instruments, such as the altimeter that
displays aircraft altitude; the airspeed indicator; and the magnetic direction
indicator, a form of compass. Additionally, an artificial horizon, turn
coordinator, and vertical speed indicator are flight instruments present in most
aircraft. Much variation exists for these instruments.

AIR SPEED INDICATOR:-

The airspeed indicator or airspeed gauge is an instrument used in an aircraft to

display the craft's airspeed, typically in knots, to the pilot. In its simplest form,
an ASI measures the difference in pressure between the air around the craft and

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the increased pressure caused by propulsion. The needle tracks pressure

differential but the dial is marked off as airspeed. The airspeed indicator (ASI)
is used by the pilot during all phases of flight, from take-off, climb, cruise,
descent and landing in order to maintain airspeeds specific to the aircraft type
and operating conditions as specified in the Operating Manual.

During instrument flight, the airspeed indicator is used in addition to the attitude
indicator (artificial horizon) as an instrument of reference for pitch control
during climbs descents and turns.

The airspeed indicator is also used in dead reckoning, where time, speed, and
bearing are used for navigation in the absence of aids such as NDBs, VORs or
GPS.

OPERATION:-

Along with the altimeter and vertical speed indicator, the airspeed indicator is a
member of the pitot-static system of aviation instruments, so named because
they operate by measuring pressure in the pitot and static circuits.

Airspeed indicators work by measuring the difference between static pressure,

captured through one or more static ports; and stagnation pressure due to "ram
air", captured through a pitot tube. This difference in pressure due to ram air is
called impact pressure.

The static ports are located on the exterior of the aircraft, at a location chosen to
detect the prevailing atmospheric pressure as accurately as possible, that is, with
minimum disturbance from the presence of the aircraft. Some aircraft have
static ports on both sides of the fuselage or empennage, in order to more
accurately measure static pressure during slips and skids. Aerodynamic slips
and skids cause either or both static ports and pitot tube(s) to present themselves
to the relative wind in other than basic forward motion. Thus, the alternative
placements on some aircraft.

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Basic six instruments

Icing is a problem for pitot tubes when the air temperature is below freezing and
visible moisture is present in the atmosphere, as when flying through cloud or
precipitation. Electrically heated pitot tubes are used to prevent ice forming over
the tube.

The airspeed indicator and altimeter will be rendered inoperative by blockage in

the static system. To avoid this problem, most aircraft intended for use in
instrument meteorological conditions are equipped with an alternate source of
static pressure. In unpressurised aircraft, the alternate static source is usually
achieved by opening the static pressure system to the air in the cabin. This is
less accurate, but is still workable. In pressurised aircraft, the alternate static
source is a second set of static ports on the skin of the aircraft, but at a different
location to the primary source.

ATTITUDE INDICATOR:-

An attitude indicator (AI), also known as gyro horizon or artificial horizon or

attitude director indicator (ADI, when it has a Flight Director), is an instrument
used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft relative to
Earth's horizon. It indicates pitch (fore and aft tilt) and bank (side to side tilt)
and is a primary instrument for flight in instrument meteorological conditions.

Attitude indicators are also used on manned spacecraft and are called Flight
Director Attitude Indicators (FDAI), where they indicate the craft's yaw angle
(nose left or right), pitch (nose up or down), roll, and orbit relative to a fixed-
space inertial reference frame, for which an FDAI can be configured to use
known positions relative to Earth or the stars, so that the engineers, scientists

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and astronauts can communicate the relative position, attitude, and orbit of the
craft

Operation:-

Traditional, self-contained attitude indicators use a gyroscope (powered via

vacuum or electrically) to establish an inertial platform. The gyroscope is
geared to a display that has two degrees of freedom, simultaneously displaying
pitch and bank. The display may be colored to indicate the horizon as the
division between the two colored segments (typically blue for sky and brown
for ground), and is intended to be intuitive to use. The actual bank angle is
calibrated around the circumference of the instrument. The pitch angle is
indicated by a series of calibration lines, each representing 5° or 10° of pitch
depending on design

Attitude indicators have mechanisms that keep the instrument level with respect
to the direction of gravity. The instrument may develop small errors, in pitch or
bank during extended periods of acceleration, deceleration, turns, or due to the
earth curving underneath the plane on long trips. To start with, they often have
slightly more weight in the bottom, so that when the aircraft is resting on the
ground they will hang level and therefore they will be level when started. But
once they are started, that pendulous weight in the bottom will not pull them

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level if they are out of level, but instead it's pull will cause the gyro to precess.
In order to let the gyro very slowly orient itself to the direction of gravity while
in operation, the typical vacuum powered gyro has small pendulums on the
rotor casing that partially cover air holes. When the gyro is out of level with
respect to the direction of gravity, the pendulums will swing in the direction of
gravity and either uncover or cover the holes, such that air is allowed or
prevented from jetting out of the holes, and thereby applying a small force to
orient the gyro towards the direction of gravity. Electric powered gyros may
have different mechanisms to achieve a similar effect.The problem with these
leveling mechanisms is that they will respond not only to gravity but to
accelerations in other directions due to other causes, such as turns. If the gyro
simply immediately oriented itself to the net acceleration vector, then it would
be useless. So these adjustment mechanisms act to right the gyro very slowly,
such as 2 to 8 degrees per minute, in the hopes that the gyro will stay nearly
stable during any brief maneuvering, and that most of the time the aircraft will
be flying in a steady, non-accelerating manner so that the gyro has a chance to
orient to gravity.

Some attitude indicators can only tolerate a specific range of bank angles. If the
aircraft rolls too steeply or achieves an extreme pitch attitude — while
performing aerobatics, for example — the attitude indicator can "tumble" (or
"topple") due to gimbal lock and become temporarily unusable. For this reason,
some attitude indicators are fitted with a "caging mechanism" (a device to
restore the gyroscope to an erect position). Some attitude indicators can be
manually erected once the airplane is in level flight using the caging
mechanism. Most modern instruments are designed to tolerate 360 degrees of
rotation in pitch and roll without tumbling, although periods of violent
aerobatics may tumble nearly any mechanical gyro horizon. Once tumbled, an
instrument without a caging mechanism may not be able to re-erect itself until
power is removed and the aircraft is in a level pitch and roll attitude for a long
enough period that the gyro rotor comes to a stop. However the erection
mechanism of most gyros will return it to level very slowly over a period of
several minutes.[citation needed]

Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) are able to provide three-axis
information that can be shared with multiple devices in the aircraft, such as
"glass cockpit" primary flight displays (PFDs). Rather than using a spinning
rotor for the horizon reference, modern AHRS use 3-dimension ring laser
gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers to detect the airplane's pitch
and roll attitude. AHRS have been proven to be highly reliable and are in wide
use in commercial and business aircraft. Recent advances in MEMS
manufacturing have brought the price of FAA-certified AHRS down to less than
$15,00making them practical for general aviation aircraft.

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Basic six instruments

With most AHRS systems, if an aircraft's AIs have failed there will be a standby
AI located in the center of the instrument panel, where other standby basic
instruments such as the airspeed indicator and altimeter are also available.
These mostly mechanical standby instruments may be available even if the
electronic flight instruments fail, though the standby attitude indicator may be
electrically driven and will, after a short time, fail if its electrical power fail

TURN AND SLIP INDICATOR:-

The turn and slip indicator (turn and bank indicator) and the turn coordinator
(TC) variant are essentially two aircraft flight instruments in one device. One
indicates the rate of turn, or the rate of change in the aircraft's heading, the
other part indicates whether the aircraft is in coordinated flight, showing the
slip or skid of the turn.

The slip indicator is actually an inclinometer that at rest displays the angle of
the aircraft's lateral axis with respect to horizontal, and in motion displays this
angle as modified by the acceleration of the aircraft.

Operation
The turn indicator is a gyroscopic instrument that works on the principle of
precession. The gyro is mounted in a gimbal. The gyro's rotational axis is in-line

with the lateral (pitch) axis of the aircraft, while the gimbal has limited freedom
around the longitudinal (roll) axis of the aircraft.

As the aircraft yaws, a torque force is applied to the gyro around the vertical
axis, due to aircraft yaw, which causes gyro precession around the roll axis. The
gyro spins on an axis that is 90 degrees relative to the direction of the applied

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Basic six instruments

yaw torque force. The gyro and gimbal rotate (around the roll axis) with limited
freedom against a calibrated spring The turn indicator is a gyroscopic
instrument that works on the principle of precession. The gyro is mounted in a
gimbal. The gyro's rotational axis is in-line

with the lateral (pitch) axis of the aircraft, while the gimbal has limited freedom
around the longitudinal (roll) axis of the aircraft.

The torque force against the spring reaches an equilibrium and the angle that the
gimbal and gyro become positioned is directly connected to the display needle,
thereby indicating the rate of turn. In the turn coordinator, the gyro is canted 30
degrees from the horizontal so it responds to roll as well as yaw.

The display contains hash marks for the pilot's reference during a turn. When
the needle is lined up with a hash mark, the aircraft is performing a "standard
rate turn" which is defined as three degrees per second, known in some
countries as "rate one". This translates to two minutes per 360 degrees of turn (a
complete circle). Indicators are marked as to their sensitivity,with "2 min

turn" for those whose hash marks correspond to a standard rate or two-minute
turn, and "4 min turn" for those, used in faster aircraft, that show a half standard
rate or four-minute turn. The supersonic Concorde jet aircraft and many military
jets are examples of aircraft that use 4 min. turn indicators. The hash marks are
sometimes called "dog houses", because of their distinct shape on various
makes of turn indicators. Under instrument flight rules, using these figures

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Basic six instruments

allows a pilot to perform timed turns in order to conform with the required air
traffic patterns. For a change of heading of 90 degrees, a turn lasting 30 seconds
would be required to perform a standard rate or "rate one" turn.

Vertical Speed Indicator:-

A Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI), also known as a Rate of Climb and Descent
Indicator (RCDI) is an instrument which indicates the rate of climb or
descent of an aircraft. The VSI uses the aircraft pitot-static system to
determine the vertical speed and depicts the result on a conventional
needle and circular scale instrument, or on a ribbon at the side of an EFIS
EADI.

Two typical VSI indications are depicted below. The first is a conventional
indication while on the second instrument, the vertical speed is indicated on the
scale at the extreme right of the instrument.

In a simple VSI, a barometric capsule is contained in a sealed case. The capsule

is fed with static pressure from the pitot-static system, while the case is also
connected to that system through a calibrated nozzle. The nozzle restricts the
passage of air so that there is a time delay between a change in static pressure
and that pressure being experienced within the case. Thus, if the aircraft climbs
(or descends), the pressure within the capsule will decrease (increase) while that
within the case will decrease (increase) at a lower rate due to the presence of the

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nozzle. Movement of the capsule is translated into movement of a needle by a

mechanical system.

HEADING INDICATOR:-

The heading indicator (also called an HI) is a flight instrument used in an

aircraft to inform the pilot of the aircraft's heading. It is sometimes referred to
by its older names, the directional gyro or DG, and also (UK usage) direction
indicator or DI

OPERATION:-
The heading indicator works using a gyroscope, tied by an erection mechanism
to the aircraft yawing plane, i. e. the plane defined by the longitudinal and the

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lateral axis of the aircraft. As such, any configuration of the aircraft yawing
plane that does not match the local Earth horizontal results in an indication
error. The heading indicator is arranged such that the gyro axis is used to drive
the display, which consists of a circular compass card calibrated in degrees. The
gyroscope is spun either electrically, or using filtered air flow from a suction
pump (sometimes a pressure pump in high altitude aircraft) driven from the
aircraft's engine. Because the Earth rotates (ω, 15° per hour, apparent drift), and
because of small accumulated errors caused by imperfect balancing of the gyro,
the heading indicator will drift over time (real drift), and must be reset using a
magnetic compass periodically. The apparent drift is predicted by ω sin Latitude
and will thus be greatest over the poles. To counter for the effect of Earth rate
drift a latitude nut can be set (on the ground only) which induces a (hopefully
equal and opposite) real wander in the gyroscope. Otherwise it would be
necessary to manually realign the direction indicator once each ten to fifteen
minutes during routine in-flight checks. Failure to do this is a common source of
navigation errors among new pilots. Another sort of apparent drift exists in the
form of transport wander, caused by the aircraft movement and the convergence
of the meridian lines towards the poles. It equals the course change along a
great circle (orthodrome) flight path.

ALTIMETER:-

An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of

an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry,
which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth under water.

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Basic six instruments

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