Aircraft became a practical means of transportation when accurate flight instruments freed the pilot from the necessity of maintaining visual contact with the ground. Flight instruments are crucial to conducting…
Systems Preflight Procedures Inspecting the instrument system requires a relatively small part of the total time required for preflight activities, but its importance cannot be overemphasized. Before any flight involving…
Radio Altimeters A radio altimeter, commonly referred to as a radar altimeter, is a system used for accurately measuring and displaying the height above the terrain directly beneath the aircraft.…
Primary Flight Display (PFD) PFDs provide increased situational awareness (SA) to the pilot by replacing the traditional six instruments used for instrument flight with an easy-to-scan display that provides the…
In the mid-1970s, visionaries in the avionics industry such as Hubert Naimer of Universal, and followed by others such as Ed King, Jr., were looking to advance the technology of…
Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) The HSI is a direction indicator that uses the output from a flux valve to drive the dial, which acts as the compass card. This instrument,…
Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) As aircraft displays have transitioned to new technology, the sensors that feed them have also undergone significant change. Traditional gyroscopic flight instruments have been…
Attitude Indicators The first attitude instrument (AI) was originally referred to as an artificial horizon, later as a gyro horizon; now it is more properly called an attitude indicator. Its…
Flight without reference to a visible horizon can be safely accomplished by the use of gyroscopic instrument systems and the two characteristics of gyroscopes, which are rigidity and precession. These…
The Earth is a huge magnet, spinning in space, surrounded by a magnetic field made up of invisible lines of flux. These lines leave the surface at the magnetic North…