Cody Dennison

VFR Unit 2
Pitot Static System

Airspeed Indicator

www.defineaviation

This is a good picture of the airspeed indicator, it clearly shows all of the parts of the unit
and gives you a better understanding of how it operates. The airspeed indicator is the only
instrument in the pitot static system that uses ram air. The compressed ram air comes in through
the Pitot tube and into the diagram, the casing of the instrument has static air inside that come in
through the static airline as the ram air come into the diagram it expands and contracts depending
on how fast you are flying. This difference in expansion is then transferred through linkages to
the face plate of the instrument where you the pilot can read the airspeed.

Vertical Speed Indicator

The VSI is a very important instrument and it works based off of static air. It
functions by using a diaphragm that expands and contracts as it fills with direct
static pressure, the casing surrounding the diaphragm gets static air but through a
calibrated leak so it fills up at a different rate then the diaphragm inside of the case
and this is how the VSI is obtained when you climb and descend. As the diaphragm
moves there are linkages connected to it and a dial on the face plate so you as the
pilot can see your VSI.

Altimeter

www..wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitot-static_system

The picture above is the altimeter, this instrument functions by using static air that comes
into the casing through the static port. Inside of the casing there are aneroid wafers that are filled
with standard pressure in them so as you climb up in altitude the aneroid wafers expand and
contract since the casing is filled with the static air outside in the atmosphere. The expansion of
the aneroid wafers then is measured and transferred through linkages and dials connected to a
face plate where the pilot can read the current altitude.

Reflection
After going over this with my instructor she pointed out a few places where I messed up
and my definitions were a little unclear, so we talked about how the instruments work briefly and
I explained them over to her. Then I went back into my artifact and reworded some things so it is
clearer to the person reading so they can understand how the instruments work. I learned from
this just how important it is to know about all the instruments and how they function so you can
detect if one ever fails on you, also so you know the errors associated with them as well.