Airspeed indicator

Diagram showing the face of a true airspeed indicator typical for a faster single engine
aircraft

Principle of operation

Airspeed indicators work by measuring the difference between static pressure, captured
through one or more static ports; and stagnation pressure due to "ram air", captured
through a pitot tube. This difference in pressure due to ram air is called impact pressure.
Altimeter

Diagram showing the face of the "three-pointer" sensitive aircraft altimeter displaying an
altitude of 10,180 feet.

Pressure altimeter

Digital barometric pressure sensor for altitude measurement in consumer electronic

applications

A pressure altimeter (also called barometric altimeter) is the altimeter found in most
aircraft. In it, an aneroid barometer measures the atmospheric pressure from a static port
outside the aircraft. Air pressure decreases with an increase of altitude—approximately
100 mill bars per 800 meters or one inch of mercury per 1000 feet near sea level.

The altimeter is calibrated to show the pressure directly as an altitude above mean sea
level, in accordance with a mathematical model defined by the International Standard
Atmosphere (ISA). Older aircraft used a simple aneroid barometer where the needle
made less than one revolution around the face from zero to full scale. Modern aircraft use
a "sensitive altimeter" which has a primary needle that makes multiple revolutions, and
one or more secondary needles that show the number of revolutions, similar to a clock
face. In other words, each needle points to a different digit of the current altitude
measurement.

The calibration formula for an altimeter, up to 36,090 feet (11,000 m), can be written as:
where h is the indicated altitude in feet, P is the static pressure and Pref is the reference
pressure (use same units for both). This is derived from the barometric formula using the
scale height for the troposphere.

Radar altimeter

A radar altimeter measures altitude more directly, using the time taken for a radio signal
to reflect from the surface back to the aircraft. The radar altimeter is used to measure
height above ground level during landing in commercial and military aircraft. Radar
altimeters are also a component of terrain avoidance warning systems, warning the pilot
if the aircraft is flying too low, or if there is rising terrain ahead. Radar altimeter
technology is also used in terrain-following radar allowing fighter aircraft to fly at very
low altitude.

Attitude indicator
An attitude indicator (ADI), also known as gyro horizon or artificial horizon, is an
instrument used in an aircraft to inform the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft
relative to earth. It indicates pitch (fore and aft tilt) and bank or roll (side to side tilt)
and is a primary instrument for flight in instrument meteorological conditions.
Attitude indicators also have significant application under visual flight rules, though
some light aircraft do not have them installed.

Attitude indicator (with integrated localizer and glide slope indicators)

Principle of operation

Attitude indicators use a gyroscope (powered via vacuum pump or electrical motor) to
establish an inertial platform. The gyroscope is geared to a display that has two
dimensions of freedom, simultaneously displaying pitch and bank. The display may
be colored to indicate the horizon as the division between the two colored segments
 (typically blue for sky and brown for ground), and is intended to be intuitive to use.
The actual bank angle is calibrated around the circumference of the instrument. The
pitch angle is indicated by a series of calibration lines, each representing 5° or 10° of
pitch depending on design.

Schematics drawing of the insides of a classic attitude

Fluxgate compass
Principle

The basic fluxgate compass is a simple electromagnetic device that employs two or more
small coils of wire around a core of highly permeable magnetic material, to directly sense
the direction of the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic field. The advantages of
this mechanism over a magnetic compass are that the reading is in electronic form and
can be digitised and transmitted easily, displayed remotely, and used by an electronic
autopilot for course correction.

To avoid inaccuracies created by the vertical component of the field, the fluxgate array
must be kept as flat as possible by mounting it on gimbals or using a fluid suspension
system. All the same, inertial errors are inevitable when the vessel is turning sharply or
being tossed about by rough seas. To ensure directional readings that are adequately
stable, marine fluxgate compasses always incorporate either fluid or electronic damping.
An alternative is to use a 3-axis fluxgate magnetometer to provide a 3D flux vector, and
the magnetic heading is derived from the flux on a plane perpendicular to gravity, thus
providing immunity from pitching, and rolling.

Gyroscope
Principle
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles
of angular momentum. The device is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take
any orientation. This orientation changes much less in response to a given external torque
than it would without the large angular momentum associated with the gyroscope's high
rate of spin. Since external torque is minimized by mounting the device in gimbals, its
orientation remains nearly fixed, regardless of any motion of the platform on which it is
mounted.

Inertial reference unit

Principle

An inertial reference unit (IRU) is a type of inertial sensor which uses only gyroscopes
to determine a moving aircraft’s or spacecraft’s change in angular direction (referred to
as "delta-theta" or Δθ) over a period of time. Unlike the inertial measurement unit, IRUs
are generally not equipped with accelerometers, which measure acceleration forces.

IRUs are used for attitude control and navigation of vehicles with relatively constant
acceleration rates, such as geosynchronous satellites and deep space probes.

MHD sensor
MHD sensors are used for precision measurements of angular velocities in inertial
navigation systems (i.e., aerospace engineering). The principle of an MHD (magneto
hydrodynamic) sensor is shown in the picture. The accuracy improves with the size
of the sensor.

fig: Principle of MHD sensor for angular velocity measurement

Ring laser gyroscope
A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) uses interference of laser light within an optical ring to
detect changes in orientation and spin. It is an example of a Sagnac interferometer.

fig: Schematic representation of a ring laser setup. At the beam sampling location,
a fraction of each of the counter propagating beams exits the laser cavity.

A related device is the fiber optic gyroscope which operates similarly to the ring gyro, but
typically has a longer optical circuit with fewer mirrors or prisms, because the
transmission paths are within a coiled optical fiber. A fiber gyroscope doesn't necessarily
use fiber laser technology; the laser action may be located outside a passive ring on a
beam splitter port.

Primary applications include navigation systems on commercial airliners, ships and

spacecraft, where RLGs are often referred to as Air Data Inertial Reference Units. In
these applications, it has replaced its mechanical counterpart, the Inertial guidance
system.

Turn coordinator
The turn coordinator (TC) is a flight instrument which displays to pilot information about
the rate of yaw (turn), roll, and the "quality" or "coordination" of the turn. The turn
coordinator was developed to replace the older turn and bank indicator, which
displayed rate and quality of turn but not rate of yaw.
fig: Image showing the face of a turn coordinator during a standard rate coordinated right

turn.

Operational principle

Graphic of a turn and bank indicator and a turn coordinator

The turn coordinator is, like the turn and bank instrument it replaced, a gyroscopic
instrument. An internal gyroscope, typically electrically driven (although some turn
coordinator gyros are dual-powered and can be driven by either air or electricity), spins at
approximately 20,000 rpm with the spin axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the
airplane and the free axis tilted up 30° from it. As the aircraft rotates about the yaw or roll
axis, the principle of gyroscopic inertia causes the gyro to "resist" the change in its
rotational axis about the free axis. This resisting force works against a spring; thus, a
slow rate of turn deflects the gyro slightly while a higher rate of roll or yaw deflects it
more. The gimbals’ movements are linked to the indicator dial on which is the rear view
of a symbolic aircraft.

The quality of turn is indicated by an coordination ball, which works on the same
principle as an inclinometer. This is a glass tube mounted on the face of the instrument,
below the symbolic airplane. It is actually a completely separate instrument. The
inclinometer consists of a glass tube filled with kerosene, and a steel ball. The tube is
curved such that its center is the lowest point, and each end is higher. Normally, the ball
will then sit in the center position of the tube, which represents a 'coordinated' turn. This
position is marked by two vertical wires on the tube. The ball is said to be 'centered' when
it sits perfectly evenly between the two wires.

Variometer
A variometer (also known as a rate-of-climb indicator, a vertical speed
indicator (VSI), or a vertical velocity indicator (VVI)) is an instrument in an aircraft
used to inform the pilot of the instantaneous rate of descent or climb. It can be calibrated
in knots, feet per minute (101.333 ft/min = 1 kn) or meters per second, depending on
country and type of aircraft.

fig: Variometer for Para gliders, Hang Gliders and Ballooners

principle

Variometers measure the rate of change of altitude by detecting the change in air
pressure (static pressure) as altitude changes.

fig: Schematic drawing of the internals of a classic aircraft variometer

 A simple variometer can be constructed by adding a large reservoir (a thermos
bottle) to augment the storage capacity of a common aircraft rate-of-climb instrument. In
its simplest electronic form, the instrument consists of an air bottle connected to the
external atmosphere through a sensitive air flow meter. As the aircraft changes altitude,
the atmospheric pressure outside the aircraft changes and air flows into or out of the air
bottle to equalize the pressure inside the bottle and outside the aircraft. The rate and
direction of flowing air is measured by the cooling of one of two self-heating thermistors
and the difference between the thermistor resistances will cause a voltage difference; this
is amplified and displayed to the pilot. The faster the aircraft is ascending (or
descending), the faster the air flows. Air flowing out of the bottle indicates that the
altitude of the aircraft is increasing. Air flowing into the bottle indicates that the aircraft
is descending.

Vibrating structure gyroscope

In science, a vibrating structure gyroscope is a type of gyroscope that functions much
like the halteres of insects. Miniaturized devices on this principle can be used as a
relatively inexpensive type of attitude indicator.

Principle

The physical principle is very simple: a vibrating object tends to keep vibrating in the
same plane as its support is rotated. It is therefore much simpler and cheaper than is a
conventional rotating gyroscope of similar accuracy.

In the engineering literature, this type of device is also known as a Coriolis vibratory
gyro because as the plane of oscillation is rotated, the response detected by the transducer
results from the coriolis term in its equations of motion ("Coriolis force").

Yaw rate sensor

A yaw rate sensor is a gyroscopic device that measures a vehicle’s angular velocity
around its vertical axis. The output is usually in degrees per second or radians per second.
The angle between the vehicle's heading and vehicle actual movement direction is called
slip angle, which is related to the yaw rate. The measurement is based on the Coriolis
effect.