Cessna 172 Cockpit

Identify the Highlighted Cessna 172 Basic Flight Instruments Below

C172 Basic Flight Instruments

Standby Compass

AltimeterAttitude Indicator

VerticalSpeed Indicator(VSI)

HeadingIndicator

TurnCoordinator

AirspeedIndicator

AIRSPEED INDICATOR

This instrument shows the current airspeed of the aircraft in nautical miles per hour. The green arc is the normal operating range. The bottom of the green arc is the stalling speed with flaps up. The bottom of the white arc is the stall speed with flaps fully extended and the top of the white arc is the maximum speed with full flaps. The yellow arc is the safe range only when in smooth air. The red mark is the speed that should never be exceeded. Note that airspeed is the speed of the air hitting the aircraft and is usually different from ground speed.

ATTITUDE INDICATOR

This instrument shows the current relationship(pitch and bank) of the aircraft to the horizon. The orange lines represent the aircraft wings. The blue area represents the sky and the brown is the earth. In this example the aircraft is flying level(neither climbing nor descending) but is banking to the left. The AI is powered by the vacuum system and gets it's readings from a built-in gyroscope.

ALTIMETER

This instrument shows the current aircraft altitude or height above sea level. It gets it's reading from the static system and must be adjusted to the current barometric pressure setting for accuracy. If the pressure setting is unknown it may be set to the airport elevation before takeoff.

Magnetic Compass

This instrument is simply a wet magnetic compass. It has no external power source so it could be used in case of other instrument failure. It is susceptible to turning and acceleration/deceleration errors while the aircraft is moving, and therefore is not generally used as a primary navigation device.

TURN COORDINTATOR

This instrument shows the rate and quality of a turn. The rudder pedals are used to adjust the yaw of the airplane. They are also used to maintain coordinated flight, which is indicated by the black ball being centered as shown here

HEADING INDICATOR

This instrument shows the direction of the nose of the airplane and is much easier to read than the magnetic compass. It is powered by the vacuum system and must be set to the magnetic compass before takeoff and periodically during level flight to maintain accuracy. The orange tab is an adjustable heading “bug,” which is used to maintain reference to assigned headings or to remember runway info.

Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI)

This instrument shows the rate of climb or descent in hundreds of feet per minute. It gets it's information from the static system. The needle shown here on the zero means the aircraft is neither climbing nor descending.

What basic flight instruments are present on an assembled Aeronca AC11 Scout

airplane like the one in our lab?

1. 2.3.4.