Technical English 2

Semana 12

Inst. carmen muñoz villalobos

Attitude Indicator (AI)
Also known as the artificial horizon, the AI uses a
rigidly-mounted internal gyro to display the aircraft’s
attitude relative to the horizon. The display consists of
a miniature aircraft aligned to the horizon in straight-
and-level flight, with a blue sky above and brown or
black ground below.
A vertical scale crossing the horizon shows degrees of
pitch up or down. A curved scale across the top shows
degrees of bank left or right. When the aircraft changes
pitch or direction, the aircraft essentially rotates
around the AI’s gyro, and the instrument display
responds accordingly.
Altimeter
The altimeter uses barometric pressure obtained
from the static port to display the aircraft’s
approximate altitude or height above mean sea
level (MSL) in feet. Three pointers provide the
altitude information in 100, 1,000 and 10,000
foot increments.
Because barometric pressure changes with
altitude and atmospheric conditions, most
altimeters contain an adjustment knob to dial in
the local barometric pressure (also known as the
altimeter baro setting).
 Turn Coordinator (TC)

The TC uses a canted internal gyro to display both

initial roll rate and stabilized rate of turn. An
aircraft silhouette mimics the aircraft to show the
direction of turn, and will align with a mark on the
display if the aircraft is turning in a standard rate of
three degrees per second.
Note that the TC is not meant to indicate a bank
angle, just rate and direction of turn. The TC may
include a liquid-filled inclinometer that provides
slip or skid information.
Heading Indicator (HI)
The HI uses a rotating gyro to display the current
compass rose direction (otherwise known as the
heading) that the aircraft is flying. Using a 360-
degree compass card with north as zero or “N,”
the HI shows headings in 5-degree increments
with every 30 degrees enumerated. To reduce
crowding, the last “zero” of the heading is omitted
—”3” is 30 degrees, “12” is 120, etc.
An adjustment knob turns the internal HI compass
card to align with the aircraft’s magnetic compass.
Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)
• The VSI uses internal pressure differential
to provide a visual indication of how fast
the aircraft is climbing or descending. A
diaphragm with chambers connected to
the static port expands or contracts in
response to climbs and descents, causing
the instrument to indicate the rate of
climb or descent in hundreds of feet per
minute (fpm). A hole in the diaphragm
releases the pressure change to return to
zero rate when no change is occurring.
 Other items
Compass Systems
Magnetic compass

The compass shows the aircraft's heading relative

to magnetic north. Errors include Variation, or the
difference between magnetic and true direction,
and Deviation, caused by the electrical wiring in
the aircraft, which requires a Compass Correction
Card. Additionally, the compass is subject to Dip
Errors. While reliable in steady level flight it can
give confusing indications when turning, climbing,
descending, or accelerating due to the inclination
of the Earth's magnetic field. For this reason,
the heading indicator is also used for aircraft
operation, but periodically calibrated against the
compass.
• Gyroscopic Systems

Attitude Indicator

The attitude indicator (also known as an artificial

horizon) shows the aircraft's relation to the
horizon. From this the pilot can tell whether the
wings are level (roll) and if the aircraft nose is
pointing above or below the horizon (pitch).
Attitude is always presented to users in the
unit degrees (°). The attitude indicator is a primary
instrument for instrument flight and is also useful
in conditions of poor visibility. Pilots are trained to
use other instruments in combination should this
instrument or its power fail.
• Gyroscopic Systems

Heading Indicator

The heading indicator (also known as the

directional gyro, or DG) displays the aircraft's
heading in compass points, and with respect to
magnetic north when set with a compass. Bearing
friction causes drift errors from precession, which
must be periodically corrected by calibrating the
instrument to the magnetic compass. In many
advanced aircraft (including almost all jet aircraft),
the heading indicator is replaced by a horizontal
situation indicator (HSI) which provides the same
heading information, but also assists with
navigation.
• Gyroscopic Systems
Turn Indicator

These include the Turn-and-Slip Indicator

and the Turn Coordinator, which indicate
rotation about the longitudinal axis. They
include an inclinometer to indicate if the
aircraft is in Coordinated flight, or in
a Slip or Skid. Additional marks indicate
a Standard rate turn. The turn rate is most
commonly expressed in
either degrees per second (deg/s)
or minutes per turn (min/tr).
Navigational Systems
Very-High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR)

The VOR indicator instrument includes

a Course deviation indicator (CDI),
Omnibearing Selector (OBS), TO/FROM
indicator, and Flags. The CDI shows an
aircraft's lateral position in relation to a
selected radial track. It is used for
orientation, tracking to or from a station,
and course interception. On the
instrument, the vertical needle indicates
the lateral position of the selected track.
An horizontal needle allows the pilot to
follow a glide slope when the instrument
is used with an ILS.
 Nondirectional Radio Beacon (NDB)
The Automatic direction finder (ADF) indicator instrument can be a fixed-card, movable card, or a Radio
magnetic indicator (RMI). An RMI is remotely coupled to a gyrocompass so that it automatically rotates
the azimuth card to represent aircraft heading. While simple ADF displays may have only one needle, a
typical RMI has two, coupled to different ADF receivers, allowing for position fixing using one
instrument.
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