Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

During a dive

Asked by: 5988 views General Aviation

How will the basic flight instruments change when subjected to a dive and landing, in details?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Wes Beard on May 17, 2011

    Rachel, is there a fear in trusting your instruments or a curiousity to how accurate they are OUTSIDE the normal flight envelope?  There are thousands of successful flights every day where the pilots must trust the flight instruments and they have come through.  Even when learning to become a private pilot we teach to trust the instruments to get out of an inadvertent IMC condition.
     
    There are design limits on all the flight instruments.  It will be hard pressed for us to define all the limitations of the instruments but we can all determine if a specific instrument has failed us.  That is the most important thing.  Identify a faulty instrument and take it out of the instrument scan.
     
    The only instrument that comes to mind that will change during a dive is the inclinometer (ball).  This is due to the left turning tendencies of the propeller.  Because we are descending the ball was actually be displaced to the left (requiring left rudder) to remain centered.  This is not an error in the inclinometer but it does change from normal flight.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Brian on May 19, 2011

    Quote: Wesley, “The only instrument that comes to mind that will change during a dive is the inclinometer (ball).  This is due to the left turning tendencies of the propeller.  Because we are descending the ball was actually be displaced to the left (requiring left rudder) to remain centered.  This is not an error in the inclinometer but it does change from normal flight.”
     
    I think you mean due to the lack of left turning tendencies? Let me explain. We are all aware of the left turning/yawing tendencies you speak of. What is less known is how the aircraft design impacts things. To elaborate, engineers will often opt to cant the rudder slightly (basically giving constant right rudder) to more or less eliminate any yawing tendencies in the cruise phase of flight.
     
    Anyway, during descent left turning tendencies are at a minimum and the aircraft design can often overcomes them. The end result is a slight right yawing tendency. 
     

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Chet on May 22, 2011

    When flying cross country is there any reason/advantage to filing a flight plan if you are going to use ATC for flight following?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Pat Flannigan on May 26, 2011

    I’m not sure if you are asking for something a little more specific or complex than this, but here goes:
     
    By basic flight instruments, I’m going to focus on the standard “six pack.”
     
    Airspeed Indicator: Indicates an increase in airspeed as we are converting altitude (potential energy) into airspeed (kinetic energy).
     
    Attitude Indicator: As you might expect, the attitude indicator will indicate a nose-low attitude, unless you are diving steep enough to “tumble” the gyro. In that case, this instrument will be unpredictable and useless.
     
    Altimeter: The needles on the altimeter will rapidly unwind, indicating a loss of altitude. 
     
    Vertical Speed Indicator: The VSI should register the descent rate, or the needle will be pegged at it’s maximum descent giving an inaccurate reading.
     
    Heading Indicator: The heading indicator ought to give a reliable indication of the aircraft’s heading, unless this gyro has also tumbled, rendering the instrument erroneous.
     
    Turn Coordinator: The turn coordinator continues to indicate direction and rate of turn up to it’s limit. The ball on the inclinometer should continue to indicate aircraft coordination accurately, which has been commented on accurately by Wes and Brian.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.