A pitot-static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used in aviation to determine an aircraft'sairspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend. A pitot-static system generally consists of a pitot tube, a static port, and the pitot-static instruments. Errors in pitot-static system readings can be extremely dangerous as the information obtained from the pitot static system, such as altitude, is often critical to a successful flight. Several commercial airline disasters have been traced to a failure of the pitot-static system. This equipment is used to measure the forces acting on a vehicle as a function of the temperature, density, pressure and viscosity of the fluid in which it is operating. Other instruments that might be connected are air data computers, flight data recorders, altitude encoders, cabin pressurization controllers, and various airspeed switches.
The pitot-static system of instruments uses the principle of air pressure gradient. It works by measuring pressures or pressure differences and using these values to assess the speed and altitude. These pressures can be measured either from the static port (static pressure) or the pitot tube (pitot pressure). The static pressure is used in all measurements, while the pitot pressure is only used to determine airspeed.
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Pitot Static Instruments
-The pitot-static system obtains pressures for interpretation by the pitot-static instruments. While the explanations below explain traditional, mechanical instruments, many modern aircraft use an air data computer (ADC) to calculate airspeed, rate of climb, altitude and Mach number. In some aircraft, two ADCs receive total and static pressure from independent pitot tubes and static ports, and the aircraft's flight data computer compares the information from both computers and checks one against the other. There are also "standby instruments", which are back-up pneumatic instruments employed in the