Aircraft instruments
Most aircraft have a large number of instruments that provide important information to the pilot. When these instruments are electronic, they are often called avionics. An aircraft that uses electronic displays almost exclusively is said to have a glass cockpit; mechanical instruments are sometimes referred to as steam gauges in comparison, even though they don't actually run on steam.
Basic instruments that are present in almost all aircraft include:
- An airspeed indicator, which indicates the speed at which the aircraft is moving through the surrounding air.
- An altimeter, which indicates the altitude of the aircraft above the ground or above mean sea level (MSL).
- An attitude indicator, sometimes called an artificial horizon, which indicates the exact orientation of the aircraft about its pitch and roll axes.
Most aircraft have many other instruments as well, including (but not limited to):
- A Turn coordinator, which helps the pilot maintain the aircraft in a coordinated attitude while turning.
- A rate-of-climb indicator, which shows the rate at which the aircraft is climbing or descending
- A horizontal situation indicator, existing in many different forms, all of which show the position and movement of the aircraft as seen from above with respect to the ground, including course/heading and other information.
- Various instruments showing the status of each engine in the aircraft (operating speed, thrust, temperature, and other variables).
- Combined display systems such as primary flight displays or navigation displays.
- Information displays such as on-board weather radar displays.
