Posted on March 11, 2020 David Sherman
For the typical aircraft, there are a range of instrument systems that monitor different factors of the aircraft in order to aid the pilot in achieving safe and optimal flight. In general, there are three main aircraft instrument system categories that individual apparatuses fall under based on their functionality. These three instrument systems include flight, engine, and navigation instruments. In this blog, we will go more into detail about each category, and some of the equipment that falls under each.
The flight instrument system supplies the pilot with important information regarding aircraft statuses such as direction and speed. Typically, aircraft will always feature six critical flight instruments, often referred to as the “six pack” due to their arrangement on a cockpit dashboard. These instruments are the airspeed indicator (ASI), altimeter, vertical speed indicator (VSI), attitude indicator (AI), heading indicator (HI), and the turn coordinator (TC). The airspeed indicator is a flight instrument that is also part of the pitot static system. Airspeed indicators are useful for displaying the speed of the aircraft in regards to the surrounding air. The altimeter and the vertical speed indicator are both part of the pitot static system as well, measuring the altitude and rate of climb/descent respectively. The attitude, heading, and turn indicator are all gyroscopic systems. The attitude indicator provides the aircrafts current roll and pitch to help the pilot maintain level flight as needed. The turn indicator also helps being aware of aircraft orientation by showing how much the aircraft is either tilting left or right. Lastly, the heading indicator is a flight instrument that allows the pilot to know which direction they are heading with a compass attuned to magnetic north.
Engine instruments are also very useful for the pilot as an engine monitoring system. These instruments typically perform functions such as indicating temperature, fuel flow, oil pressure, exhaust gas temperature, and other factors depending on the type of engine and aircraft. Fuel flowmeters are an engine monitoring system that display the fuel use of the aircraft in real time using fuel flow per hour, allowing the pilot to make accurate flight planning. With the engine monitoring system, displays can either be analog gauges, or a digital EICAS display that provides only the needed information that a pilot should be aware of.
The navigational instrument system of an aircraft may differ from model to model, and has changed throughout time with the advent of new technologies and capabilities. In early aircraft, the navigation system was comprised of a simple clock and compass. Utilizing information from the airspeed indicator, the pilot would then be able to determine their progress and location. Since then, new technologies, such as radios, have superseded these more traditional methods and instruments with their advanced functionalities. With an aircraft instrument that utilizes radio signals, aircraft can more accurately track their location and heading. Even global positioning systems (GPS) have begun to be installed within newer aircraft and can provide very accurate pinpointing of current location.
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