In this presentation, you will learn in detail how the instruments inside the plane work with the differences in air pressure outside the plane. You will also learn how to manipulate

1. Aircraft Instruments Group C: Second Year Advanced

5. 1. The airspeed indicator shows speed through the air --- not over the ground. The pitot tube on the wing catches on-rushing air. This “ram air” is compared to “static” air to determine air speed. The static port measures static or still air – air that is not affected by the airplane’s speed through the air

6. 2. The vertical speed indicator uses changes in air pressure to indicate rate of climb or descent. VS is read in feet per minute This airplane is descending at _______ feet per minute. 180

7. 3. The altimeter measures air pressure outside the airplane and compares it to air pressure at sea level to determine altitude. Like the hands of a clock, the long hand shows smaller increments (100s of feet) while the shorter hand shows larger increments (1,000s of feet). The hand with the triangle on the end shows the largest increments (10,000s of feet). This altimeter is reading ________ feet. 1,719

13. The turn coordinator shows if the wings are level or banked. The position of the ball indicates if the airplane is coordinated during a turn. The ball is centered when the turn is coordinated by the rudder. Turn Coordinator

14. The heading indicator shows you which direction you’re going relative to Earth’s latitude and longitude lines. Since Earth is a sphere, there are 360 numbers, each being a different direction. For example, east is 90 and south is 180. On the heading indicator, the last 0 is omitted. Runway numbers work the same way that the numbers on the heading indicator do. The last 0 is omitted and the numbers on the runway match the number on the heading indicator, +/- 5 degrees. When landing here, your heading indicator should read 27 because you’re landing on runway 27, which is actually 270 degrees.