Flight Instruments And Aids

Front 1

What is the Angle of Inclination

Back 1

The angle that the Earth is tilted

Front 2

What is Magnetic Variation?

Back 2

The angular difference between true north and the magnetic north

Front 3

What are isoganals?

Back 3

Lines on the Earth map that join areas of common magnetic variation

Front 4

What is the Agonic Line?

Back 4

The line where there is no angle of magnetic variation

Front 5

What is the Magnetic Inclination or Magnetic Dip at the equator and poles?

Back 5

At the equator magnetic dip is 0 degrees and 90 degrees at the poles

Front 6

What is an Isoclinal?

Back 6

A line joining places of equal magnetic dip

Front 7

What is the name for aircraft magnetic calibration?

Back 7

Compass swinging.

Most aerodromes have a magnetic calibration area.
Looks like:
FOR 0 30 60 90 etc
STEER 359 30 59 88 etc

Front 8

What gives a remote compass it's values and where on the aircraft is it normally situated?

Back 8

The Flux Valve and it is usually placed on the wing.

Front 9

What are the major parts in a Directional Gyroscope and what causes it to spin?

Back 9

The Gyro and the gimbals which the gyro wheel spins within.
Powered by suction air flow or electricity.

Front 10

What is the major benefit of Directional Gyroscope over other types?

Back 10

It is very stable.

Front 11

In a Pressure (Barometric) Altimeter what does each needle represent:
a) Tall one with triangle on the top.
b) Medium needle
c) Short needle

Back 11

a) Tens of thousands of feet
b) Hundreds of feet
c) Thousands of feet

Front 12

In the Pressure Altimeter when will the striped window pop open?

Back 12

Pops open when below 10,000 feet.

Front 13

If the aircraft goes from a high pressure to a low pressure without adjusting the altimeter which way will the altimeter read? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 13

Over read.
"High to low, look out below"

Front 14

If an aircraft goes from cold air to warm air which way will the altimeter read? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 14

Under read

Front 15

Define Indicated Altitude. (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 15

Altitude read from the instrument

Front 16

Define True Altitude. (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 16

Displacement from the Mean Sea Level (MSL)

Front 17

Define Pressure Altitude. (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 17

Displacement from 1013.2hpa pressure datum. Also known as Flight Level

Front 18

Define Density Altitude. (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 18

Pressure altitude compensated for temperature deviation from ISA

Front 19

What instrument uses both static pressure and dynamic pressure?

Back 19

Airspeed indicator

Front 20

If an altimeter is out by 15HPa how many feet is it off by?

Back 20

450ft

Front 21

Define Vso. (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 21

Stalling speed, max weight, undercarriage down, flaps down, power off

Front 22

Define Vs1 (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 22

Stalling speed, max weight, undercarriage up, flaps up, power off

Front 23

Define Vfe (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 23

Max speed, flaps extended

Front 24

Define Vno (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 24

Max speed for normal operations

Front 25

Define Vne (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 25

Never exceed speed (max speed, all operations)

Front 26

What do the following colours represent on the ASI:
a) White
b) Green
c) Yellow

Back 26

a) Flap operating range
b) Normal operating range
c) Caution range

Front 27

Define Vmca and how is it represented

Back 27

Minimum controllable speed with critical engine inoperable in a multi-engined aircraft.
Red line on ASI

Front 28

Define Vyse and how is it represented

Back 28

Best rate of climb with an engine inoperable in a multi-engined aircraft.
Blue line on ASI

Front 29

What is the approx rule for TAS change over altitude?

Back 29

For every 1000ft up there is approx 2% increase in true airspeed over indicated

Front 30

Define: (EXAM!!!!!!!)
a) IAS (circled on slide)
b) CAS
c) EAS
d) TAS (circled on slide)
e) G/S (circled on slide)

Back 30

a) Read off instrument, adjusted for instrument error
b) IAS corrected for position error correction (PEC)
c) CAS corrected for compressibility error
d) EAS corrected for density error
e) Ground speed. TAS corrected for wind component

Front 31

On the turn coordinator what do the lines below each side of the level flight lines indicate?

Back 31

A rate 1 turn. Or 3 degrees per second or 180 degrees per minute.

Front 32

What are the two possible movement side effects in a turn?

Back 32

Skid: skidding outwards from the turn circle
Slip: falling into the center of the turn circle

Front 33

What is an AH and what does each notch represent along the top?

Back 33

Artificial horizon. Also referred to as a master instrument. Each notch is 10 degrees of roll.

Front 34

What are the frequency ranges of:
a) HF
b) VHF
c) UHF

Back 34

a) 3mhz - 30 mhz
b) 30mhz - 300 mhz
c) 300mhz - 3ghz

Front 35

What frequency range do Radio Altimeters operate in and what level do they operate up to?

Back 35

SHF band from 4.2ghz - 4.4ghz.
Operate up to 2,500ft AGL

Front 36

What frequency do Radar altimeters operate in and what are they for?

Back 36

10ghz or higher.
Used for military (Terrain Following Radar - TFR) and spacecraft, high altitude photography.

Front 37

What are the limitations of radar and radio altimetry?

Back 37

- Fluctuations over varying terrain
- Beam penetrates ice and snow giving false readings
- Large pitch and bank angles will affect the reading as the beam gets shot straight down out of the aircraft

Front 38

What is a CLAM?

Back 38

A Cleared Level Adherence Monitor. Activates an alarm when an aircraft leaves their assigned level by more than 300 ft.

Front 39

What is a GPWS and what does it do? (EXAM!!!!)

Back 39

Ground Proximity Warning System.
It warns crew of unsafe flight path relative to terrain such as:
- Windshear (noted as important to remember in my book)
- Excessive descent rate ("sink rate")
- Excessive terrain closure rate
- Excessive altitude loss after take-off or go around
- Unsafe terrain clearance while gear not locked down ("Don't Sink")
- Unsafe terrain clearance while landing with flaps not selected ("Terrain!")
- Terrain rising faster than aircraft after take-off
- Excessive descent below ILS glideslope ("Glide slope!")
- Advisory callout of radio height
- Advisory callout of bank angle

Front 40

What are the inputs to the GPWS?

Back 40

- Radio altimeter
- Barometric altimeter
- Airspeed/Mach *
- ILS glideslope
- Flap and landing gear
- Angle of attack sensor *
- Accelerometer inputs from Inertial Reference System *

* Used together for windshear detection

Front 41

What are the limitations of the GPWS?

Back 41

- Relies on radio altimeters
- Limited to 2500ft AGL
- Inaccurate at bank angles > 30 degrees
- Inaccurate at pitch angles >20 degrees
- Produces some false alarms
- Some modes can be overridden.

Front 42

What is the FDR and what is it for?

Back 42

Flight Data Recorder.
Used to assist investigators in the event of an accident.

Front 43

What does the FDR record?

Back 43

- Time
- Pressure Altitude
- Indicated Airspeed
- Heading
- Normal acceleration (vertical)
- Pitch attitude
- Roll attitude
- Manual radio transmitter keying
- Thrust/power of each engine.

There's more I think.

Front 44

What is the CVR and what does it record?

Back 44

The Cockpit Voice Recorder.
Records:
- Each crew members microphone
- Intercom and radio audio
- Ambient noise in the cockpit

Front 45

What are the CVR and FDR recorded on?

Back 45

CVR: Magnetic tape and solid state memory.
FDR: Solid state memory

Front 46

What tolerances must the crash survivable memory unit be able to handle?

Back 46

- High g-force (3400g)
- High temperatures (1100 C degrees for 1 hours)
- Salt water and aircraft fluids
- Deep sea submersion

Front 47

What are the specifications of the Locator Beam? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 47

- In the black box
- Activates in water
- Lasts for 30 days or more IMPORTANT
- Ultrasonic sounds (~37khz) IMPORTANT
- Battery lasts for 6 years shelf life IMPORTANT

Front 48

What are the three types of beacons and what are their normal uses?

Back 48

-ELT - Emergency Locator Transmitter (Air)
- EPIRB - Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (sea)
- PLB - Personal Locator Beacon (land)

Front 49

What are the distress frequencies for aviation and satellites? (EXAM!!!!!!)

Back 49

Aviation- VHF: 121.5mhz and UHF: 243.0mhz
Satellites - COSPAS/SARSAT: 406.025mhz

Front 50

What is the signal characteristic of a rescue beacon?

Back 50

5 watt signal for 0.5 seconds once every 50 seconds.

Front 51

What frequencies does the ELT transmit on? (EXAM!!!!)

Back 51

406 and 121.5mhz

Front 52

What is does ADF stand for?

Back 52

Automatic Direction Finder

Front 53

What does RDF stand for and how does it work?

Back 53

Radio Direction Finder.
Compares the signal strength using a directional antennae to calculate the direction.

Front 54

What are the uses for the ADF and RDF?

Back 54

- Navigation
- Holding
- Instrument approaches (aerodrome and runway)
- Initial track guidance prior to commencing an ILS

Front 55

What information can be gained from Navigation using an ADF or RDF?

Back 55

- That you are tracking to or from an NDB
- Without another aid you will only know your heading/bearing
- Station passage is a fix

Front 56

Where are Aerodrome and Runway Instrument approaches located in relation to their respective elements?

Back 56

- Aerodrome instrument approach is a loop separate from the aerodrome
- Runway instrument approach runs through the centre line of the runway.

Front 57

What do NDBs transmit and in what range in Australia? (EXAM!!!!!!)

Back 57

An Amplitude modulated vertically polarised carrier wave.
In Australia from 200-420khz

Front 58

What other uses do NDBs have?

Back 58

Can include information for pilots such as ATIS, AWIB and WATIR or also be voice modulated to allow ATC to transmit information.

Front 59

How do you calculate Fixed Card ADF?

Back 59

Add the heading to the ADF value. If greater than 360 degrees then subtract 360.
To get the heading to the NDB subtract or add 180 degrees, whichever way is appropriate.

Front 60

What is a RMI and how does it differ from Fixed Card?

Back 60

A Radio Magnetic Indicator. The compass behind the DF is a moving compass face.

Front 61

What errors effect an NDB? (EXAM!!!!!!)

Back 61

- Mountain effect: Signals bounce off mountains
- Interference: powerlines etc. or similar frequency NDBs
- Night effect (sky waves absorbed in the D layer in daytime but no D at night so they mirror off the E layer)
- Thunderstorms (emit broad RF)
- Quadrantal error (electrical error in the aircraft itself)
- Coastal refraction (going from the land to sea causes bends unless hitting it at 90 degrees)

Front 62

What is the accepted NDB accuracy deviation?

Back 62

+ or - 5 degrees

Front 63

What does VOR stand for and what range does it operate in?

Back 63

- VHF Omni-directional Radio Range
- From 112 to 117.9 mhz (VHF band, duh)

Front 64

How does a VOR work?

Back 64

- Line of sight transmission
- Transmits two signals, one non-directional reference signal and one whose phase relationship to the reference signal varies with bearing (radial) from the VOR.

Front 65

What is the cone of confusion?

Back 65

A cone of area above the VOR that gives confused signals and readings. The CDI needle will waver. Entering it counts as a fix.

Front 66

How many degrees does each dot from the CDI line represent and if the line is to the right of the centre circle which way would you need to direct the aircraft?

Back 66

2 degrees.
Need to turn the aircraft to the right.

Front 67

What is Radial Intercept?

Back 67

Cross the radial at 30 or 60 degrees to gain passage on it. Need to cross it otherwise you will just be running parallel to it and not actually on it.

Front 68

What is the aggregate error for VOR?

Back 68

Less than 5 degrees

Front 69

What are VOR affected by?

Back 69

- Aircraft altitude
- Height of the antennae
- Terrain between the ground station and the aircraft

Front 70

What is scalloping? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 70

Cyclic deviation too fast for an aircraft to follow. Caused by sites/buildings. It is the most common error with VOR. Doppler VOR are less susceptible.

Front 71

How many feet does 1nm equal? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 71

6080ft

Front 72

What is a VORTAC?

Back 72

A VOR with a TACAN. TACAN being a military VOR on UHF. Not really in Australia. The DME part of the TACAN can be accessed by civil aircraft though.

Front 73

What distance does a DME provide? What else can be gotten from the DME? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 73

Direct distance between an aircraft and the beacon being used.
Also gives speed which means you can calculate the time.

Front 74

How does a DME work?

Back 74

-Aircraft sends out interrogation signal
- Ground recieves the pulse and sends a reply
- Aircraft calculates the difference.

Front 75

What frequency range does a DME operate on and how many channels? (EXAM!!!!!)

Back 75

- Operates on UHF between 962 and 1213mhz (referred to as 1000mhz DME)
- There are 252 different channels available numbered from 1-126 followed by an x or y suffix

Front 76

If a VOR and a DME are co-located how are they shown on the chart?

Back 76

Shown by the } (brace) symbol and only the VOR frequency is displayed.

Front 77

When does station passage occur with a DME?

Back 77

When the DME gives you your altitude over the DME.

Front 78

What are the DME Approaches?

Back 78

- DME Homing: An emergency approach procedure using just a DME
- DME Arrival: An Australian procedure for enroute descent in a terminal area.

Front 79

What are the advantages to DMEs?

Back 79

- Continuous position fix with another aid
- Groundspeed readout and TTS (Time to Station)
- Accurate determination of top of descent
- Improves holding pattern accuracy
- Improves approach procedure accuracy
- Provides continuous update of ILS Glideslope integrity
- DME Arrivals

Front 80

What are the limitations of DME?

Back 80

- Slant range inaccuracies
- Cost of installation, flight checks and running costs
- Range <200nm around FL400 (less range at lower altitudes)
- GPS does it all without slant range or range limits.

Front 81

What frequency does Airborne Weather Radar operate in and what does it detect? (EXAM FOR WHAT BAND)

Back 81

The X-band (3cm wavelength, 8-12ghz)

Primarily for detection of Cb due to presence of:
- Hail (GR)
- Strong turbulence (not clear air turbulence: CAT)
- Windshear
- Lightning
- Severe icing
May also be used for ground mapping.

Front 82

What is the radar sweep of the weather radar?

Back 82

60 degrees left and right from aircraft heading
15 degrees up and down from the aircraft heading.

Front 83

When would you use doppler VOR and how does it work?

Back 83

Usually used in mountain regions.
They analyse the return signal to determine motion and filtering eliminates stationary targets such as ground clutter.

Front 84

What does VNAV show?

Back 84

Height of weather as well as depth.

Front 85

What do storm scopes show (written as exam prep in my book)?

Back 85

Show readings from level of electrical returns.
Is cheaper weather radar and only shows points of electrical discharge.

Front 86

What does the ILS consist of?

Back 86

LOC (VHF) - Localiser (sends electromagnetic beam down the runway) Provides azimuth
GP (UHF) - Glideslope/path (to where the aircraft is expected to land) Provides vertical assistance
OM - Outer marker : Provide fixed distance guidance
MM - Middle marker : Provide fixed distance guidance
DME
NDB (MF or LF)
High Intensity Approach Lighting (HIAL)
Monitor and control system

Front 87

What are the DH/DA

Back 87

Decision height and decision altitude. The point at which the pilot will decide if they can land or if they need to go around.

Front 88

What are the ILS Categories and their details? (EXAM!!!)

Back 88

Cat 1 - DH not lower than 200ft. Runway visual range not less than 800m

Cat2 - DH lower than 200ft but not lower than 100ft. RVR not less than 350m

Cat3A - DH lower than 100ft or no DH. RVR not less than 200m

Cat3B - DH lower than 50ft or no DH. RVR less than 200m but not less than 50m.

Cat3C - No DH. No RVR.

Front 89

What are the ILS categories used in Australia?

Back 89

All Aus ILS are Cat 1 apart from Melbourne which has Cat2 on RWY27 and 3B on RWY16

Front 90

What is the most important part of the ILS?

Back 90

The localiser as you can still complete an ILS approach even if all other elements have failed.
It's called a Localiser Only Approach.

The minima goes higher with every failure though and if only the localiser goes then no ILS is possible.

Front 91

What are the broadcast details of the localiser?

Back 91

-108mhz to 112mhz VHF
- Carries a morse ident
- Aerial is located 300m upwind on the extended centre line
- Sends two overlapping signals:
- 150hz tone right of runway (blue zone)
- 90 hz tone left of runway (yellow zone)
- Safe zone within 35 degrees either side of the localiser course. False course may exist outside that range.

Front 92

What is HIAL required for?

Back 92

Cat 2 and Cat 3 approaches.

Front 93

What channels will the DME be on for ILS?

Back 93

Channels 17-56 to coincide with the LOC VHF pairing.

Front 94

What is the frequency range of the glide slope and how is the signal organised?

Back 94

- 329.0mhz to 335.0mhz
- Two overlapping signals like the LOC but turned 90degrees
- 150hz lower
- 90 hz higher

Front 95

What are the frequency characteristics of the marker beacons and what are their colours?

Back 95

- All transmit on 75mhz at about 3 watts.
- Outer marker (purple) at 400hz
- Middle marker (yellow) in dots and dashes at 1300hz

Front 96

What do the minimas change to if HIAL is not available?

Back 96

Visibility for a LOC approach must be increased to 900m
Vis of 1.5km is required for CAT1 precision approach.

Front 97

What does RNAV stand for and what does it allow? How may waypoints be described?

Back 97

Area Navigation
Allows pilots to fly routes that are not aligned with ground navigation aids or routes beyond their range (oceanic).
Waypoints may be described by Bearing and Distance from navaids or latitude and longitude.

Front 98

What are the two approved RNAV systems?

Back 98

Inertial Navigation System (INS/IRS)
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS/GPS)

Front 99

What is the difference between INS and IRS?

Back 99

IRS uses ring laser gyroscopes.

RLGs initialise faster than conventional gyroscopes.
INS is the only self-contained navigation system and is impervious to jamming.

Front 100

What frequencies do the GPS/GNSS satellites broadcast on?

Back 100

L-Band frequencies (1575.42mhz and 1227.6mhz)

Front 101

What is required to have a GPS as a primary navigation tool? (listed as exam material)

Back 101

Barometric Aiding.
GPS can utilise data from pressure altimeters to improve accuracy where there are fewer than 5 satellites.

Front 102

What is RAIM FD?

Back 102

Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring.

Performs consistency checks on satellites.
Fault detection

Front 103

What is RAIM FDE?

Back 103

Reciever Autonomous Integrity Monitoring, Fault Detection and Exclusion.

Detects unsatisfactory satellites and excludes them from navigation.
Allows high accuracy navigation to continue.
RAIM outages are predictable.

Front 104

What elements are there for accuracy with GPS/GNSS?

Back 104

- Accuracy may be degraded for military purposes.
- Clock drift, ephemeris and ionospheric delay can induce errors.
- Augmentation of the signal improves accuracy, reliability and availability.

Front 105

What is WAAS?

Back 105

Wide Area Augmentation System

- Intended to enable aircraft to rely on GPS for all the phases of flight including precision approaches to any airport within its coverage area.

Front 106

What is GBAS

Back 106

-Differential GPS. Airservices first foray into GPS Augmentation.
- Can be accurate to 10cm.

Front 107

For primary radar, what is:
a - Name of the duration of the pulse. (exam)
b - The two significant factors in how well it can provide resolution.
c - How the width affects the signal.

Back 107

a - Pulse Length
b - The Beam Width and Pulse Length
c - Wider the beam the less detail.

Front 108

What is the resolution of range in relation to length of pulse on primary radar?

Back 108

The minimum distance between targets on the same bearing for them to be separate on the radar screen.

Front 109

What limits the range of the Primary Radar?

Back 109

The Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) or the interval between pulses.
Lower PRF gives greater range.

Front 110

How do you acheive minimum blind space overhead on Primary Radar?

Back 110

With a cosecant beam shape.
Alters the polarisation of beam to reduce blind space.

Front 111

What are the limits of ATC Primary Radar?

Back 111

- Range
- Cost of installation
- Cost of running
- Site limitations
- Local terrain
- Weather
- Identification may be slower.

Front 112

What are the main modes for Secondary Surveillance Radar?

Back 112

- 3/A - Military/Civil ident
- B - Not Used
- C - Pressure altitude encoding
- D - Not used
- S - 24 bit addressable code (may include data such as ADSB for TCAS)

Front 113

What are the main SSR codes?

Back 113

0100 - Aircraft ops at Aerodromes or by ATC issue
1200 - VFR in E, G
2000 - Civil IFR in G
2100 - Ground testing
3000 - Civil flights in A, C, D, or IFR in E
4000 - Civil flight (non SAR) in G >15nm offshore
5000- Military flights in A, C, D, or E
6000- Military flights in G
7615 - Civil littoral surveillance.

Front 114

What is SPI?

Back 114

Special Purpose Identification
- A separate pulse activated by the 'Ident' button that causes it to be highlighted on the ATC panel.

Front 115

What is WAM?

Back 115

Wide Area Multilateration
- Uses multiple SSR receivers to triangulate aircrafts position.
- Can fill in areas shadowed from main SSR
- Performance equals that of main SSR
- Passive or active system

Front 116

How is data relayed from Radar to Site? (Marked as exam)

Back 116

- Microwave links
- UHF links
- Fibre optic cable
- Landlines

Front 117

What does TCAS do and show?

Back 117

- Actively interrogates other aircraft transponders
- Displays their position and altitude relative tot he TCAS aircraft.
- Calculates trajectory and time to Closest Point of Approach (CPA)
- Provides visual and aural warnings

Front 118

What does TCAS2 do that TCAS doesn't and what mode is needed for it?

Back 118

- Provides vertical movement suggestions.
- Mode C/S needed for the vertical movement suggestions

Front 119

What mode do you need to appear on another aircraft's TCAS if you have no TCAS

Back 119

- Mode 3/A transponder.

Front 120

What are the TCAS symbols?

Back 120

- Open diamond - Other traffic
- Filled diamond - Proximate traffic
- Yellow/Orange circle - Traffic advisory
- Red Square - Resolution advisory.

Front 121

What does a filled diamond with a -20 and an up arrow mean?

Back 121

Proximate traffic 2000 feet below and climbing at > 500ft/min

Front 122

When will the TCAS issue a TA or an RA?

Back 122

TA at 40 seconds from aircraft
RA at 25 seconds from aircraft