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Reduce speed to...? - The Airspeed Indicator

Airspeed Indicator
The Airspeed Indicator (ASI) provides the speed
of the aircraft relative to the air surrounding it.
The speed is given in Knots, which is the same as
Custom Search Search a nautical mile, or 1,852 km/h. By the use of the
indicated airspeed the pilot is able to navigate
and determine the time left to the waypoints and
make sure that specific structural speed limits
are not exceeded. The indicated airspeed is also
the base for further airspeed calculations like the
true airspeed, calibrated airspeed and more. The
figure to the right displays the airspeed indicator
in way the pilot sees this on the flight deck.

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The ASI measures the airspeed in terms of the difference between the pitot and static pressures
detected by either a combined pitot-static probe, or a pitot probe and static vent, as
appropriate. The indication needle will be set in motion by the expansion and compression of
the membrane. Due to the air pressure differences in higher and lower altitude a static port is
needed to generate a reliable indication anytime in the flight. The static port(s) provides the
static pressure which equals the pressure inside the housing to the pressure outside aircraft. The
dynamic pressure, directly from the pitot tube, is connected to the membrane. The higher the
Facebook वर िमत्र व airspeed the higher the dynamic pressure while the static pressure only changes when the
कुटुंिबयांना कॅच अप करा! flightlevel or the atmosphere changes. This difference in dynamic and static pressure results in a
movement of the membrane. The movement of the membrane sets a few gears in motion, which
are connected to the indication needles.

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The compression of air brings a downside with it. Compressed air, due to high velocity, has an
higher pressure ratio than non compressed with normal air velocity. The pressure varies with the
square of the airspeed. With higher speeds the dynamic pressure builds up and the membrane
expands linear to the pressure. The response characteristic shows a greater deflection
acceleration at lower speeds then the high speed deflection. This results in a non-linear scale on
the indicator. To prevent the unwanted side of the pressure build up, the use of a non-linear
scale is compensated by a square-law compensation. The most commonly used method is the use
of en lever attached to the membrane that is progressively altered. By high deflections of the
membrane the pointer increases for small deflections and vice versa.

Another method is the use of a tuning spring. The spring bears against the membrane and applies
a controlled retarding force to membrane expansion. The force is governed by sets of ranging
screws which are pre-adjusted to contact the spring at the appropriate points of increasement.
As speed and differential pressure increases, the spring rate increases and its effective length is
shorted. This compensates the use of a variable magnifying lever or a non-linear scale. The
airspeed after compensation is the Calibrated Airspeed (CAS)

The use of digital air data computers takes over the

mechanically measured indicated airspeed. In this case the
dynamic and static pressure are connected to the Air Data
Computer (ADC). The signal from the ADC goes to the
instruments which display the airspeed by the use of
servo's or by displaying the airspeed on LCD or TFT
screens. The computer compensates also for position
errors which is called the Computed airspeed. The
Computed airspeed is used the calculate the CAS. The
photo to the right displays both the primary and navigation
display of the Boeing 747-400 making use of the above
mentioned systems.

http://www.dutchops.com/Plane_Tech/Instruments/Airspeed-Indicator.html 26/07/20, 11:50 PM

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 The CAS is then used for the calculation of the Equivalent Airspeed (EAS). This airspeed is
calculated from the measured pressure difference p when using the constant sea level of density.
The ADC automatically compensates for the compressibility of air at the pitot tube.

The True Airspeed (TAS) in the EAS compensated for the changes in temperature and density
variations on the different flight levels.

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