Aircraft Instrumentation
A Review of Aircraft Instrumentation Technology
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University – Online Campus
ASCI 202
Abstract
Advances in technology have lead to great strides in the ability to provide flight deck aircrew with a large amount of information in smaller areas of the instrument panel and advancements in electronic controls, this paper will discuss the development of these technologies and the principles that they operate on.
A Review of Aircraft Instrumentation Technology The flight decks of modern aircraft have changed dramatically over the years from; analog air pressure operated gauges to cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to liquid crystal display (LCD) screens and automated electronic flight management computers. The principles of operation of aircraft instrumentation have remained largely unchanged. The benefits yielded by the improvements in how information is displayed to aircrew have allowed air travel to become integral part of our lives.
In the past 100 years of aviation, the advancements have been staggering, and especially in the development of display and flight deck automation technology over the last forty years. The displays of early aircraft were minimal and limited to those gauges that were necessary for flight. In 1937, the Royal Air Force (RAF) chose six essential flight instruments that would remain the standard panel used for flying in Instrument Metrological Conditions (IMC) for the next 20 years (Jukes, 2004). They are the: Altimeter (feet), Airspeed indicator (knots), Turn and Bank Coordinator (turn direction and coordination), Vertical Speed Indicator (feet per minute), Artificial Horizon (attitude indication), and the Directional Gyro and Heading Indicator ("Instrument flying handbook," 2008).
This Basic Six set of instruments was adopted by commercial aviation remains largely unchanged, except in the way in which these basic indications of flight are displayed to aircrew. These gauges are
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University – Online Campus
ASCI 202
Abstract
Advances in technology have lead to great strides in the ability to provide flight deck aircrew with a large amount of information in smaller areas of the instrument panel and advancements in electronic controls, this paper will discuss the development of these technologies and the principles that they operate on.
A Review of Aircraft Instrumentation Technology The flight decks of modern aircraft have changed dramatically over the years from; analog air pressure operated gauges to cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to liquid crystal display (LCD) screens and automated electronic flight management computers. The principles of operation of aircraft instrumentation have remained largely unchanged. The benefits yielded by the improvements in how information is displayed to aircrew have allowed air travel to become integral part of our lives.
In the past 100 years of aviation, the advancements have been staggering, and especially in the development of display and flight deck automation technology over the last forty years. The displays of early aircraft were minimal and limited to those gauges that were necessary for flight. In 1937, the Royal Air Force (RAF) chose six essential flight instruments that would remain the standard panel used for flying in Instrument Metrological Conditions (IMC) for the next 20 years (Jukes, 2004). They are the: Altimeter (feet), Airspeed indicator (knots), Turn and Bank Coordinator (turn direction and coordination), Vertical Speed Indicator (feet per minute), Artificial Horizon (attitude indication), and the Directional Gyro and Heading Indicator ("Instrument flying handbook," 2008).
This Basic Six set of instruments was adopted by commercial aviation remains largely unchanged, except in the way in which these basic indications of flight are displayed to aircrew. These gauges are
References: Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service. (2008). Instrument flying handbook. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Bernard C. Hainline, Donald L. Parks, "Aircraft instrumentation," in AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Education, 2012, http://www.accessscience.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.eduFederal Funk, K, & Lyall, B. Federal Aviation Administration, (2000). A comparative analysis of flight decks (93-G-039). Washington, DC. Jukes, M. (2004). Aircraft display systems. American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics.