Six Pack of Flight Instruments

The Six Pack of Flight Instruments It seems as if though cockpits of modern jets are becoming more and more intricate and complex. The have added greatly to the primary flight instruments and have filled vast amounts of space in cockpits. It is still very relevant to the aircraft for which it is designed, but lets get back to basics. Lets cut out all of the excess and focus on a few primary instruments, instruments that one would be guaranteed to find no matter the plane. These are the instruments that make up the “Six Pack” (Learn to Fly, 2013). The “Six Pack” is comprised of the six basic flight instruments that are used by pilots. These instruments are typically found in two rows of three. Going from left to right the instruments that make up the “Six Pack” are the air speed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator, heading indicator, and turn coordinator. These instruments are the main source of information for pilots. These instruments can be divided into two categories based off of how they work, which are static or pitot-static and gyroscopic instruments. The instruments that fall into the static category are the airspeed indicator, altimeter, and vertical speed indicator. The airspeed indicator shows the aircraft’s airspeed in knots relative to the surrounding air. This is known as true airspeed and can be very valuable information for flight planning. It is also usually just a few knots different than indicated airspeed in small aircraft. As most aircraft instruments airspeed indicators are color coded, enabling a pilot to look at them and know instantly if they are in a normal operating condition or even an extreme condition to where changes must be made. This instrument has a white arc for it’s flap operating range, a green arc for normal operating ranges, a yellow arc for a caution range, and a red line for a never exceed speed, which could result in damage or structural failure if exceeded. There are

References: Air Sea Tac Virtual. (2013). Basic Flight Instrument. Retrieved from http://www.airseatac.com/academy/academy.instruments.basic.php Federal Aviation Administration. (2008). Pilot 's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Oklahoma City, OK: United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Airman Testing Standards Branch. Learn to Fly. (2013). Six Pack-The Primary Flight Instruments. Retrieved from http://www.learntofly.ca/six-pack-primary-flight-instruments/