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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 safe flight operations and it is important that the pilot have a basic understanding of their operation. The basic flight instruments required for operation under visual flight rules (VFR) are airspeed indicator (ASI), altimeter, and magnetic direction indicator. In addition to these, operation under instrument flight rules (IFR) requires a gyroscopic rate-of-turn indicator, slip-skid indicator, sensitive altimeter adjustable for barometric pressure, clock displaying hours, minutes, and seconds with a sweep-second pointer or digital presentation, gyroscopic pitch-and-bank indicator (artificial horizon), and gyroscopic direction indicator (directional gyro or equivalent).
Aircraft that are flown in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) are equipped with instruments that provide attitude and direction reference, as well as navigation instruments that allow precision flight from takeoff to landing with limited or no outside visual reference.
The instruments discussed in this category are those required by Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 91, and are organized into three groups: pitot-static instruments, compass systems, and gyroscopic instruments. This category concludes with a discussion of how to preflight these systems for IFR flight. This category addresses additional avionics systems such as Electronic Flight Information Systems (EFIS), Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS), Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Head Up Display (HUD), etc., that are increasingly being incorporated into general aviation aircraft.
Posts
- Pitot/Static Systems
- Pitot/Static Instruments (Part One)
- Pitot/Static Instruments (Part Two)
- Dynamic Pressure Type Instruments
- Magnetism (Part One)
- Magnetism (Part Two)
- Gyroscopic Systems
- Gyroscopic Instruments (Part One) Attitude and Heading Indicators
- Gyroscopic Instruments (Part Two) Turn Indicators
- Flight Support Systems
- Analog Pictorial Displays
- Flight Management Systems (FMS)
- Primary Flight Display (PFD)
- Advanced Technology Systems
- Safety Systems
- Required Navigation Instrument System Inspection
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