Ch.

5:Instruments/AvionicSystems

LessonOverview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Pitot-StaticSystem
GyroscopicInstruments
CompassSystems
AngleofAttackIndication
StallWarningSystems
AutoFlight
Communications
NavigationSystems

TheAtmosphere
CanyoudescribethecharacteristicsoftheAtmosphere?

LetsrecallthethemaincharacteristicsoftheICAOStandardAtmosphere

TheICAOStandardAtmosphere
1. Duetothedynamicbehaviouroftheairmoleculesintheatmosphere
theICAOstandardatmosphere(ISA)hasbeenintroducedinorderto
providestandardvaluesoftheatmosphere.

2. ISAisbasedonmeanvaluesofweatherdatarecordedovermanyyears.

3. Asstandardconditions,atmeansealeveltheISAstatesatemperature
of15Candanairpressureof1013.25milibars(mb)or29.92inchesof
mercury(inHg).

4. Thetemperaturelapserateisdefinedasbeing1.98Cper1000feetof
increaseinaltitudefromthesealevelto36,090feet.Thetemperature
remainsunchangedat56.5Cfrom36,090ft.,wheretheStratosphere
begins.

AnimationPresentation

TheICAOStandardAtmosphere
120
CHEMOSPHERE

110
STRATOPAUSE105,000ft
PRESSURE=8.885mb
TEMPERATURE=-44.656C

100
90
80

STRATOSPHERE

70
ALTITUDE
INTHOUSANDS
OFFEET

65,800ft

60
50
40
30
20
10

TROPOPAUSE36,089ft
PRESSURE=226.32mb
TEMPERATURE=-56.5C

TE
MP

PR
ES
ER
SU
RE
AT
UR
E

0ATMOSPHERICPRESSUREINMILLIBARS
0
100
200 300
400
500
600
700
TEMPERATUREINDEGREESCELCIUS
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10

TROPOSPHERE

800

900

1000

20

30

40

BasicPitot-StaticSystem
AIRSPEED
INDICATOR

BAROMETRIC
ALTIMETER

0 40
60
180 AIRSPEED
80
160
knots
140

100

9
81
0
1

100

099
5

ALTITUDE

IN

3 5
1,000ft/min

3
2850

1000 FT

120

mb

01
90
89
6

FEET

VERTICALSPEED
INDICATOR

HG

3 5

DRAINS

PITOTLINE

STATICLINE

PITOTSTATICPROBE

BasicPitot-StaticSystem
AIRSPEED
INDICATOR

BAROMETRIC
ALTIMETER

0 40
60
180 AIRSPEED
80
160
knots
140

100

9
81
0
1
7

100

1000 FT

120

099
5

2850

ALTITUDE

Pt

IN

HG

3 5
1,000ft/min

0
1

3 5

Ps

Ps

Ps

STATICPRESSURE,Ps

AIRFLOW

mb

01
90
89
6

FEET

VERTICALSPEED
INDICATOR

VACUUM

PITOTPRESSURE,Pt

Pc

BasicPitot-StaticSystemLocationofIndicators
0

60

0
1
9
0
8
9

MACH

400
350

1
0
9

100

80

250

FEE
T

099
5

090
71 8 9
1000
FT

2 44
1 3 3 140
KNOTS
0 2 2 160

mb

81 0 1

100
120

300

2 85
0 HG

IN

ALTITUDE

2
3

200 180

PULLTOSET

1
DME-2

270
MILES

30

21

1
6 9 2

15

12
HDG

1
N

F
AD

COURSE

33

VO
R

24

0 3
33

18 2
1
15

27 30
24

0533

DME-1

1,000FTPERMIN

0533

COURSE

VERTICAL
SPEED

6
4

AirspeedIndicator
1. Airspeedindicatorsdisplaythespeedatwhichtheaircraftismoving
throughtheair,regardlessofthewinddirectionorspeed

2. Thisindicatormeasurethedifferencebetweentheramorimpact
pressureandthestaticoratmosphericpressuredetectedbythepitot
statictube.Thegreaterthedifferencebetweenthetwopressure
readings,thegreaterwillbetheairspeedindication
3. Airspeediscommonlycalibratedinknots(nauticalmilesperhour)

700

100

600 KNOTS
500

200
300

400

AirspeedIndicator
0 40

60
60

180 AIRSPEED

80
160
160

km/h
knots
140
140

120
120

TRUE
AIRSPEED

5
100 KNOTS

100
100

700 100
600

KNOTS

500

200

300
400

AirspeedIndicator
Term

Definition

IndicatedAirspeed

theuncorrectedairspeed,whichisdirectly
readfromtheindicator

CalibratedAirspeed

IAScorrectedforinstallation,instrumentand
pitotstaticsystemerrors

EquivalentAirspeed

IAScorrectedforpressureerrorand
compressibilityerror

TrueAirspeed

EAScorrectedfortheactualdensityaltitude,
i.e.itisthetruespeedoftheaircraftrelativeto
thesurroundingair

Mach

TheMachnumberindicatestheaircraftIAS
relativetothelocalspeedofsound

AirspeedIndicator
G EAR SEG M ENT
D IA P H R A G M
H A IR S P R IN G
P IT O T

S T A T IC

LEVER

IN D IC A T O R S H A F T

AirspeedIndicator
LEVER
S T A T IC
A IR
G EAR SEG M ENT

P IT O T
A IR

D IA P H R A G M
IN D IC A T O R S H A F T

AirspeedIndicator
SystemDescription

Theindicationisbasedonthemeasurementofadifferentialpressure,
resultingfromthepressureinsidethecapsule(equaltototalpressure
Pt)andinsidethehousing(equaltostaticpressurePs)

Thepressure-sensingelementisametal-capsule,theinteriorofwhich
isconnectedtothepitotpressureheadviathepitotconnectorP

Thestaticpressureisexertedontheexteriorofthecapsuleandisfed
intotheinstrumentcaseviathestaticconnectorS.Exceptforthis
connectorthecaseissealed

MachAirspeedIndicatorWithMaximumSafeAirspeedIndication
0

60

VMOINDICATOR

400

Maximumoperatingairspeed

350

AIRSPEEDPOINTER

300

Indicatedairspeed

0
1
9
0
8
9

MACH

1
1
0
0
9
9

100
120

250

3 7 4
2 6 3
1 5 2
KNOTS
200 180

AIRSPEEDSELECTOR
Autothrottle(wheninstalled)
orforsettingreferenceairspeedmarker

80

MACHDIAL
Willbeoutofviewif
AirDataComputerfails

140
160

AIRSPEEDMARKER
PULLTOSET

Indicatesautothrottleselectedairspeed
(wheninstalled)orforreferenceairspeed

Whenflyingathighaltitudesthemaximumsafeairspeeddecreasesdue
tothedecreasingdensityoftheair.Forhigh-speedaircraftitistherefore
essentialthatanindicationofthecorrectmaximumsafeairspeed
(accordingtotheactualaltitude)beprovidedinordernevertoexceed
thisspeed.

Altimeter
Thepurposeofanaircraftaltimeteristoprovideanaccurateindicationof
theaircraftheightaboveacertaindatumorreferencelevel
(usuallyabovesealevelorground)

Aircraftaltitudeorheightmeasurementisgenerallyaccomplishedby
measuringtheatmosphericpressure

100

FEE
T

mb

81 0 1

099
5

090
71 8 9
1000 FT

285 0
IN

ALTITUDE

HG

2
3

Altimeter
POINTER
(100FEET)

100

POINTER
(1,000FEET)

FEE
T

81 9 1
0 80
71 7 9

099
5

1000 FT

PRESSURE
SETTING
KNOB

mb

ALTITUDE

2 85
IN
0 HG

BAROMETRIC
SCALE

ALTITUDE
SCALE

Altimeter

Altimeter
LEVER
STATIC
AIR

GEARSEGMENT

CAPSULE
INDICATORSHAFT

Altimeter
SystemDescription

Thealtimeterissimplyabarometerthatmeasuresthesurroundingair
pressureascomparedtoaselectedreferencepressure

Thehousing/caseisconnectedtothestaticlineofthepitotstatic
systemandtheinteriorofthecapsuleisvacuum(zeropressure)

Thedatumorreferencepressure(mbarand/orin.Hgdial)isrotated
manuallybyturningtheadjustingknob.Thescaleissettotheprevailing
atmosphericpressure,eitherQFE,QNEorQNH

Simultaneously,thepointerpositionismovedaccordinglyagainstthe
scalewhichisusuallycalibratedinfeet

Altimeter
Oneofthefollowings
isselectedasdatum
atanyonetime

QFE
QNH
QNE
DATUM

Altimeter

QFE
mb

91
00
09

1000 FT

0995

2850
IN

QFE
set

HG

Altimeterreadszero

Altimeter

QFE
mb

90
69
08

1000 FT

0995

2850
IN

QFE
set

HG

Height6900feet
Altimeterreads6900ft

Altimeter

QNH
QFE
mb

93
12
01

1000 FT

1010

2980
IN

QNH
set

HG

Altimeterreads1200ft
1200feet
MeanSeaLevel(MSL)

Altimeter

QNH
QFE
mb

91
70
09

1000 FT

1010

2980
IN

QNH
set

HG

Altitude7000feet
Altimeterreads7000ft
1200feet
MeanSeaLevel(MSL)

Altimeter

QNE
QFE
mb

95
16
07

1000 FT

1013

2992
IN

QNE
set

HG

Altimeterreads1600ft
1600feet
StandardMeanSeaLevel(MSL)1013.25mb

Altimeter

QNE
QFE
mb

91
140
09
1000 FT

1013

2992
IN

QNE
set

HG

FlightLevel140(FL140)
Altimeterreads14000ft
StandardMeanSeaLevel(MSL)1013.25mb

VerticalSpeedIndicator
Verticalspeedindicatorsarealsocalledrate-of-climbindicators

Theyareverysensitivedifferential-pressuregauges,designedtoindicatethe
rateofaltitudechangepurelyfromthechangeofthestaticpressure

3 5
1,000ft/min

0
1

AnimationPresentation

3 5

VerticalSpeedIndicator

10

3 5

VERTICAL SPEED

1,000ft/min

0
3 5

CLIMB

UP

20

0
1

1 2

15

FEET PER MIN

X 100

15

10

DOWN

m/sec

1 2

VerticalSpeedIndicator
TEM PERATURE
CO M PENSATO R
A N D D IF F U S E R

G EAR
M E C H A N IS M

L IN K A G E

H O U S IN G

BELLO W S

P O IN T E R

C O N N E C T IO N T O
S T A T IC L IN E

VerticalSpeedIndicator
Diaphragm-BasedVerticalSpeedIndicatorSystemDescription

Thediaphragm-basedverticalspeedindicatorsensestherateofchange
ofthestaticpressureandconvertsthemtoindicatearateofclimb
ordescentinfeet per minute(sometimesinmetrepersecond)

Theinstrumentisconnectedtothestaticlineofthepitotstaticsystem

Thisstaticpressure,Psisconnecteddirectlytothecapsulebutthrough
ameteringunit(calibratedleak)tothehousing

Theindicationisbasedonthemeasurementofthepressuredifference
betweenthepressureinsidethediaphragm(changingstaticpressure)
andthepressureinsidethehousing,surroundingthediaphragm
(equalizingpressure)

VerticalSpeedIndicatorLevelFlight

CLIMB

DESCENT

VerticalSpeedIndicatorDescent

CLIMB

DESCENT

VerticalSpeedIndicatorAscent

CLIMB

DESCENT

Pitot-staticProbe

TYPICALLOCATIONOF
PITOT-STATICPROBE

PITOT-STATICPROBESARETYPICALLYLOCATEDON
BOTHSIDESOFTHEFORWARD-ENDOFTHEFUSELAGE

Pitot-staticProbe
TOPITOTSYSTEM

ELECTRICALCONNECTOR
FORHEATINGPOWER
AIRCRAFTSKIN

HEATINGELEMENTS

AIR

DRAINHOLE

NICKEL-PLATED
COPPER

HighSpeedPitotProbe

Boomfastenedtonose,
wingorfin

Copper

Sharpedge
Air

Heater

Drain

TheICAOStandardAtmosphere
120
CHEMOSPHERE

110
STRATOPAUSE105,000ft
PRESSURE=8.885mb
TEMPERATURE=-44.656C

100
90
80

STRATOSPHERE

70
ALTITUDE
INTHOUSANDS
OFFEET

65,800ft

60
50
40
30
20
10

TROPOPAUSE36,089ft
PRESSURE=226.32mb
TEMPERATURE=-56.5C

TE
MP

PR
ES
ER
SU
RE
AT
UR
E

0ATMOSPHERICPRESSUREINMILLIBARS
100
200 300
400
500
600
700
TEMPERATUREINDEGREESCELCIUS
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10

0 feet
0

TROPOSPHERE

1013.25 mb

800

900

1000

20

30

40

TheICAOStandardAtmosphere
120
CHEMOSPHERE

110
STRATOPAUSE105,000ft
PRESSURE=8.885mb
TEMPERATURE=-44.656C

100

TEMPERATURE
INCREASESAT
0.303CPER1000ft

90
80
STRATOSPHERE

70
ALTITUDE
INTHOUSANDS
OFFEET

65,800ft

60
50
40
30
20
10

TROPOPAUSE36,089ft
PRESSURE=226.32mb
TEMPERATURE=-56.5C

TE
MP

PR
ES
ER
SU
RE
AT
UR
E

TROPOSPHERE

0ATMOSPHERICPRESSUREINMILLIBARS
15 C
100
200 300
400
500
600
700
800
TEMPERATUREINDEGREESCELCIUS
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20

0 feet
0

900

1000

30

40

TEMPERATURE
DECREASESAT
1.98CPER1000ft