ELEC4504 Avionics Systems 139

CHAPTER 11. Air Data Computer (ADC)

In this section we shall be considering all of the functions of the air data computer separately in order to study their
history, purposes and principles of operation.
The main measurements to be considered are:
a) Airspeed (indicated, true and Mach number)
b) Altitude
c) Temperature
d) Angle of Attack
Note: although angle of attack is not strictly a function of the ADC, some sensors use airstream measurements
to measure it

11.1. General
11.1.1 Airspeed
Airspeed is probably the most important single piece of information the pilot needs. Virtually every phase of
flight is conducted at a prescribed airspeed or range of airspeeds.
e.g.
Vs is the stall speed, which is probably the most important airspeed since below Vs the aircraft will not fly
V1 is the takeoff reject speed. If an emergency occurs below this speed, the takeoff is rejected and the
aircraft is stopped on the runway. If the emergency occurs above this speed, the takeoff is continued. This
speed is calculated for every takeoff and depends on such factors as the length of the runway, the
temperature, the weight of he aircraft and the altitude of the airport.
VR is the rotate speed. The speed at which the aircraft is expected to fly if the control yoke is pulled back.
Climb and cruise speeds are defined for maximum efficiency.
The approach speed is usually about 1.3 times the stall speed. This is a compromise between having a safe
margin above the stall and having a minimum speed at threshold crossing to minimize the landing roll (and
the amount of braking required)
VNE is the “never exceed” speed which is determined by the aircraft structure.
i.e. above this speed, parts start to fall off
VMO is the maximum operating speed
An addition to these, there are specified maximum airspeeds for such things as lowering the undercarriage
and extending flaps primarily for structural reasons,
All of the above speeds are Indicated airspeeds, which will be defined a little later
True airspeed is derived from the indicated airspeed, and, as the name suggests, is the actual speed of the
aircraft relative to the air mass in which it is moving. This is used almost exclusively for navigation
purposes
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Mach number is the speed of the aircraft relative to the local speed of sound. It is used mainly for cruise.

11.1.2 Altitude
The second most important piece of information is altitude.
Uses of altitude information:
a) - by the air traffic control system to provide vertical separation between aircraft.
b) - to avoid terrain (assuming one knows where the aircraft is in relation to the terrain)
c) - to convert indicated airspeed to true airspeed
d) - to control the pressurization system in the aircraft (to avoid rapid changes in pressure)

11.1.3 Temperature
Temperature information is used to compute Mach number and true airspeed and to indicate when external
conditions are such that icing is likely.

11.1.4 Angle of Attack

The angle of attack is used primarily to drive the stall warning and stall prevention systems. Older types of
aircraft have a distinctive pattern of behaviour as they approach the stall but many modern aircraft do not. Also,
in T tail aircraft it may not be possible to recover from a stall. Thus artificial means of providing warning and
prevention are required
At a certain angle below the stall angle, a stick shaker is activated. This is similar to the natural stall warning
which occurs in older aircraft (due to turbulent airflow over the horizontal stabilizer and elevators from the
stalling wing). If the pilot does not take appropriate action to decrease the angle of attack and if it increases, a
stick pusher forces the stick forward to prevent the stall from occurring.
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11.2. Principles of Operation

11.2.1 Airspeed
Indicated Airspeed (IAS) is measured using a pitot tube and a static vent.
The pitot tube is a tube that is open at the front end and closed at the rear and is aimed directly into the relative
wind

Static
Direction of flight Pressure
Stagnation
Pressure

Figure 60:
Schematic Diagram of Pitot Static System

It produces a pressure which depends on the speed of the aircraft and which is called the stagnation pressure,
the dynamic pressure or total pressure. The pitot tube is supplied with a heater to prevent icing.
The static vent consists of a hole or an array of holes in the skin of the aircraft and is intended to measure the
absolute pressure of the still air surrounding the aircraft. But because the air is moving past the aircraft the pres-
sure at various places on the aircraft’s skin is slightly higher or lower than the free stream pressure by an amount
called the static defect. The static defect at a particular location depends on the speed, angle of attack, yaw an-
gle, and altitude. The optimum location (i.e. the location which gives the smallest errors) of the static vents is
determined by wind tunnel tests.
In compressible subsonic flow the total pressure pt is

2 γ ⁄ (γ – 1)
γ – 1 ρV
p t = p s 1 + ----------- ⋅ ---------- (1)
γ 2 ps

where

γ = specific heat ratio of air (= 1.4)

V = true airspeed
ρ s = free-stream air density
At low speeds, this reduces to:
2
ρV
p t = p s + ----------
2
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Thus

ρV
2 2 ( pt – ps )
p t – p s = ---------- and V IAS = -------------------------
2 ρ SL

Indicated airspeed is proportional to the square root of p t – ps

2
note that p t – p s is proportional to ρV which is a common factor in the expressions for such effects as drag
and lift which is why it is so widely used.
When corrected for static defect and scale factor error, this is called the calibrated airspeed.

Multiplying by ρ SL ⁄ ρ gives effective airspeed which, below Mach 0.8 and 30,000 Ft. is within 7% of TAS.
True Airspeed (TAS) could theoretically be derived from equation (1) but this requires an accurate measure-
ment of ρ which is difficult to do. Instead TAS is usually derived from the Mach number via the equation

38.967 T m Ma
V TAS = ---------------------------------------
-
2
1 + 0.2k ( Ma )
where Ma is the Mach number and k is the temperature probe recovery factor.
Mach number at subsonic speeds is derived from ratio of the stagnation pressure and static pressure as shown in
the equation
γ–1
-----------
pt γ
⎛ γ-----------
– 1⎞
Ma = ⎛ -----⎞
2
–1
⎝ 2 ⎠ ⎝ p s⎠

11.2.2 Temperature
Temperature is measured by a thermometer element on the exterior of the aircraft. On a moving aircraft this is
higher than the free stream temperature due to frictional heating and compression of the air impinging on the
thermometer. It is also altered by radiation from the thermometer to the sky and airframe.
A probe similar to the pitot tube is used. It points along the aircraft axis and compresses the incoming air to
zero relative speed, thus causing total, or stagnation temperature to exist at the thermometer.
The temperature actually measured at the thermometer is

γ–1 2
T m = T s 1 + -----------η ( Ma ) (2)
2
where absolute temperatures (usually in ˚Kelvin) are used and where Ma is the local Mach number
Ts can be calculated from equation 2
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The temperature transducer is usually a small coil of wire whose resistance is a function of temperature. A
leakage hole at the rear of the probe reduces the probe’s time lag when the temperature changes. It also drains
water from the probe. A shield surrounds the transducer in order to reduce heat exchange due to radiation from
the aircraft skin or sky
Electrical heaters can deice the probes without seriously affecting the accuracy of the measurement.

11.2.3 Altitude
Altitude is measured using the static pressure only since external pressure decreases with increasing altitude.
The relationship between pressure and altitude is defined by the ICAO standard atmosphere.
This is a fictitious atmosphere defined as follows:
Temperature at sea level:
15˚ C
Lapse rate (rate of change of temperature with altitude):
1.98˚C/1000Ft. to 36090 Ft. then constant @56.5˚ C
Sea level pressure:
29.92 in Hg, 101.3 kP or 1013 mbar
All altimeters are calibrated to read correctly in such an atmosphere.
Of course this atmosphere does not occur in practice but the only correction that is made is for the sea level
pressure.
Since the local pressure varies from hour to hour as weather systems move through the area is essential to make
a correction so that at least near the ground at an airport altimeters will read correctly. This is done by providing
the altimeter with a bias adjustment known as the altimeter setting.
The altimeter setting is computed by measuring the actual air pressure at the level of the airport and then cal-
culating, using the ICAO standard atmosphere, what pressure at sea level would produce the measured surface
pressure. This is called the altimeter setting and causes all altimeters to read correctly on the airport’s surface.
While it is recognized that at any appreciable altitude above the airport, the actual altitude will be incorrect this
can be ignored because the higher the aircraft the less danger of running into terrain. Since all aircraft flying at
low altitudes use the altimeter setting from the closest airport, their altimeters all have the same errors and thus
vertical separation can be maintained.
Due to the high speed of jet aircraft, it has been found that maintaining the altimeter setting of the nearest air-
port required frequent changes. Thus for flight above 18000 Ft. in North America (called the transition altitude),
all aircraft set their altimeters to a standard pressure of 29.92 in Hg, or 1013 mbar. The transition altitude is
different in other countries e.g. in the UK it is 8000 Ft. In this region altitudes are referred to as “flight levels”
and are expressed as 100s of feet. e.g. 36000 Ft. is flight level 360.
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Note that in extremely cold weather, altimeters at high altitudes (20,000 Ft.) will read several thousand feet
high which can be a hazard in mountainous regions. This is due to the fact that the cold air is denser than the
air in the standard atmosphere and thus the pressure changes more quickly with increasing altitude leading to
an erroneously high indicated altitude. The density is inversely proportional to the Absolute (Kelvin) tempera-
ture. Thus a temperature which is 27 degrees below standard gives a 27/273 or approximately 10% higher al-
titude reading. This is a 2000 Ft. error at 20,000 Ft.
Question: Since temperature information is available, why doesn’t the ADC correct for this?

11.2.4 Angle of Attack

There are two main methods of measuring angle of attack.
The first is readily understood. A hinged vane with a wedge on the trailing edge is attached to the side of the
aircraft. The hinge is connected to an angle measuring device such as a synchro and the angle information is
sent to the air data computer or the cockpit instrument.
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The other method involves a hollow probe but with static vents on the top and bottom. Each vent is connected
to a different static line and the air data computer determines angle of attack from the difference in pressure
from the two ports
aft
ne of aircr
centre li
α

Airflow

Figure 61:
Schematic Diagram of Angle of Attack Sensor

Figure 62:
Angle of Attack Sensor on CL601 Challenger
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A block diagram of a typical air data computer is shown in the diagram

Static
Defect
Correction

Static Altitude Altitude Altitude

Pressure Transducer Computation Altitude
Rate

Altitude
Memory - Altitude
Hold

Mach number
computation Mach
Number

Maximum Maximum
Allowable Allowable
Airspeed Speed
Airspeed Airspeed
Transducer Airspeed
Pitot computation
Pressure qc = pt - ps
True
Airspeed True
computation Airspeed

Total Temperature Static-air Static

Probe Temperature Air
computation Temperature