MAGs Revision Topics > Avionics & Instruments Revision > Flashcards

Avionics & Instruments Revision Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three basic types of aircraft flight instruments?

A
  • Primary flight
  • Engine
  • Navigation
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2
Q

What are the primary flight instruments?

A
  • Attitude indicator (AI)
  • Air speed indicator (ASI)
  • Altimeter
  • Vertical speed indicator (VSI)
  • Horizontal situation indicator (HSI)
  • Turn and slip indicator (T&S)
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3
Q

Which primary flight instruments form the classic array?

A

ASI
Al
Altimeter
HSI

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4
Q

List the pressure instruments?

A
  • Altimeter
  • ASI
  • Machmeter
  • VSI
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5
Q

If the Al fails, which flight instrumentation can give an indirect indication of pitch attitude?

A
  • Airspeed
  • Altitude
  • VSI
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6
Q

If the Al fails, which flight instrumentation can give an indirect indication of bank attitude?

A
  • HSI
  • Turn Indicator
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7
Q

To which standard are altimeters calibrated?

A

The international standard atmosphere (ISA)

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8
Q

What pressure (hpa) and temperature (°C) does ISA assume that means sea level?

A
  • 1013.25 hpa
  • +15°C
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9
Q

What approximate rate does temperature decrease in the Troposphere?

A

2° C per 1000 ft

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10
Q

At the lower levels of the Troposphere, what height increase approximates to a pressure decrease of 1 hPa?

A

30 ft

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11
Q

What type of air pressure is sampled by the static vents or ports in the pitot/static system?

A

Static or Ambient Air Pressure

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12
Q

What type of air pressure is sampled by the pitot probes in the pitot/static system?

A

Total Pressure, also known as Pitot Pressure

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13
Q

What constitutes Pitot or Total pressure?

A

Static pressure plus the pitot excess (dynamic pressure).

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14
Q

Which pressure instruments sample static pressure only?

A
  • Altimeter
  • VSI
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15
Q

Which pressure instruments sample both pitot and static pressure?

A
  • ASI
  • Machmeter
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16
Q

How would an OAT below ISA conditions affect the accuracy of the indicated altitude?

A

The altimeter would over read i.e the Pilot would think they were higher than they actually were.

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17
Q

What 2 speed parameters are used to measure the Mach speed of an aircraft?

A

The ratio of True Airspeed (TAS) to the local speed of sound

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18
Q

In a modern Air Data System, what is the name of the devices that convert pressure and temperature into electronic signals?

A

Transducers

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19
Q

Which component in an Air Data System digitises the pressure and temperature signals and processes them to provide airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and vertical speed data for use in various aircraft systems and displays?

A

The Air Data Computer (ADC)

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20
Q

What are the three categories of gyroscopic systems used in flight instruments?

A
  • Spinning
  • Optical
  • Vibrating
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21
Q

What classification of gyroscope provides angular motion measurements used by Inertial Measurement: Units/Inertial Nav Systems?

How many would be required to measure angular motion in pitch role and your in an inert measurement unit?

A
  • Rate Integrating Gyroscopes
  • 3
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22
Q

What type of flight instrument would use a displacement gyroscope with its spin axis maintained vertical to the Earth’s surface?

A

Attitude indicator.

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23
Q

What type of flight instrument would use a displacement gyroscope with its spin axis maintained horizontal to the Earth’s surface?

A

Gyro compass.

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24
Q

Gyroscopic errors can be real or apparent. What is the cause of apparent wander?

A

Earth rotation or transportation to another point on the Earth’s surface.

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25
What is the name of the effect that is exploited, in the principle of operation of a Vibrating Structure Gyro?
Coriolis effect.
26
What levels of service are available from the NAVSTAR GPS?
- Standard Positioning Service (SPS) - Precise Positioning Service (PPS)
27
What accuracy is associated with PPS?
4 metres spherically.
28
What accuracy is associated with SPS?
8 metres spherically.
29
What frequency band does VOR operate in?
VHF
30
How does GPS work?
The user receives the NAV msg that includes - Time of transmission, Ephemeris data and the Satellite almanac. The receiver utilises information along with the calculation, Distance - Speed x Time to determine an estimated position by the triangulation of the distances from the associated satellites.
31
What are the 2 main types of display in an Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS)?
- Primary Flight Display (PFD) - Multi-Function Display (MFD)
32
Which component of an EFIS is the network that passes digitised data and commands between the various avionies, comms and navigation equipment and cockpit instruments?
Data Bus.
33
Which component of an EFIS uses angular, linear velocity, 3-axis accelerometers and magnetometers to provide primary flight instrument data for the PFD?
Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS)
34
What component of an EFIS uses measurements provided by Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) to produce flight instrument indications?
Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS)
35
Which primary flight instruments use measurements from the AHRS?
- Attitude Indicator (Al) - Turn & Slip indicator Horizontal - Situation Indicator (HSI)
36
In Radar theory, what does 'PRF’ mean?
Pulse Repetition Frequency - The number of pulses transmitted in 1 second.
37
List the reasons of why a compass swing should be completed?
- Compass components replaced - Accuracy in doubt - Following aircraft major servicing - After a significant modification or repair involving magnetic materials - After the compass is subject to significant shock - Following a lightning strike - Operating in a theatre of very different magnetic latitude - Aircraft has been in long term storage on a single heading - When carrying unusual ferromagnetic loads
38
In what frequency band would you tune a Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) frequency?
UHF
39
What frequency bands does Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) / Nondirectional Radio Beacon (NDB) operate in?
LF to MF
40
List the reasons of why a Direct Indicating Compass System (DICS) is unsuitable as a primary heading
- Errors when turning - Errors when accelerating / decelerating (Heading dependant) - Unreliable near the poles / High latitudes - Subject to Electro-Magnetic interference
41
What does a radar altimeter measure?
The distance to the ground, directly below the aircraft.
42
What is the decision height for Cat 1 ILS operations?
Not below 200ft.
43
How does a radar obtain the relative velocity of a target?
Measures Doppler shift on the RF frequency of target echoes
44
By measuring the echo timing, what information is the radar able to determine?
The range of a target.
45
How does a radar obtain the horizontal direction of a target?
The direction in which the antenna is pointing.
46
In what frequency band would you tune an ILS frequency?
VHF.
47
Complete the number ranges for the frequency bands in the radio spectrum:
- VLF: Very Low Frequency - LF: Low Frequency - MF: Medium Frequency - High Frequency: Very High Frequency - UHF: Ultra High Frequency - SHF: Super High Frequency - EHF: Extra High Frequency
48
What is the angle through which the beam rotates whilst continuing to give a discernible image from a point response?
The Effective Beam Width (EBW).
49
Give 5 examples of unwanted radar echo (Clutter):
- Land - Sea - Rain - Birds - Chaff
50
What is the difference between pulse width and pulse length?
- Pulse Width = Time from the start to the end of a single pulse - Pulse Length = Distance from the start to the end of a single pulse
51
What effect does the increase in the operating frequency have on radar?
- resolution and precision increases - equipment and weight reduce - power and operating range reduce - interference increases
52
Radar systems are classified according to four main characteristics, what are they?
- Installation environment: Ground, Airborne, Maritime, etc - Functional characteristics: Search, Track, etc - Transmission characteristics: Pulse, Continuous Wave (CW), etc - Operating frequency band.
53
What are the three main applications of radar?
- Search - Tracking - Fire Control.
54
Which application of radar has the highest PRF?
Fire Control.
55
What are the 2 parts of an Air Data System?
- Pitot-static system - Air Data Computer (ADC).
56
In the event of total failure of aircraft electrical power, what is the minimum time period an Integrated Electronic Standby Instrument (IESI) must provide reliable operation on its own battery power?
30 Minutes.
57
Why are two Static ports (one placed either side of an aircraft's fuselage) required to measure Static pressure?
To enable the average Static pressure to be measured regardless of sideslip.
58
The output from which component of a gyro-magnetic compass is disconnected during aircraft turns?
Flux Valve
59
What are the three classifications of spinning gyroscopes?
Rate, rate integrating, displacement.
60
If a torque is applied about an axis perpendicular to a gyroscopes spin axis what will happen?
Gyroscope Precession
61
Which statement correctly expresses the application of a rate integrating gyroscope in flight measurement units?
It uses the property of precession to measure angular displacement about a designated axis in inertial measurement units.
62
Correctly identify the basic data bus system components and their functions.
1 = Bus Controller (controls data tx/rx) 2 = remote terminal (avionics equipment) 3 = Bus Monitor ( controls data)
63
Which statement correctly describes the parameters shown on this engine indication system?
Fuel flow 136 kg per hour, fuel temperature 14°C, cabin altitude 10000 ft.
64
What do VOR ground transmitters have in common?
They transmit two signals, an omni-directional *REFERENCE* signal and a rotating directional signal.
65
What distinguishes TACAN from VOR?
TACAN operates solely in the UHF band, unlike VOR, which operates in the VHF band
66
The frequency band of the ILS localiser is?
VHF.
67
What is highlighted on this HSI Display?
Localiser Deviation Bar/Course Deviation Bar.
68
Which of the following correctly summarises INS errors?
Gimballed systems can suffer from gimbal lock during manoeuvring, whilst strapdown systems require regular cross referencing with other navigation systems, e.g. GPS.
69
What is pulse radar?
*Short pulses* of transmission separated by *long intervals*
70
What is the effective beamwidth (EBW)?
*The angle through* which the beam rotates whilst continuing to give a discernible image from a point response.
71
What are the three basic types of flight instruments?
Primary Flight Instruments, Engine Instruments, Navigation Instruments.
72
What is the indirect flight instrument indication of the altimeter?
Pitch.
73
If a torque is applied about an axis perpendicular to a gyroscopes spin axis what will happen?
The gyroscope will *precess* about an axis mutually perpendicular to both the spin and torque axis.
74
Which of the following statements correctly expresses the application of a rate integrating gyroscope in flight instruments?
It uses the property of *precession* to measure *angular velocity* about a designated axis in inertial measurement units.
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