Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 17

HOW IT WORKS

BY IAN J. TWOMBLY

VERTICAL SPEED SERVED DIGITALLY
IS THE AUTOPILOT DOING ITS JOB?

ELECTRONIC FLIGHT INFORMATION DISPLAYS ARE A

wealth of information on what the aircraft is doing,
where it is, its current state of health-and, in some
cases, what's going to happen in the future.
Most new training airplanes come equipped
with a Garmin G1000 integrated avionics display
(see " Technique: Glass Class, " p. 26). Although
the pilot sees only the two screens on the panel,
the system also includes sensors and computers,
usually mounted behind the baggage compartment.
Of these, the air data computer is the hub of how
most of the primary flight display instruments are
depicted, including vertical speed.
On the Garmin, vertical speed is displayed as a
tape, or a vertical digital roll of climb or descent in
feet per minute. As the airplane climbs or descends,
a pointer slides up or down on the tape to show
exactly how many feet per minute the aircraft is
going up or down. To make it easier, the number is
also displayed in the pointer.
Ambient air pressure is gathered from the
static port, just like in a conventional instrument.
But instead of going to the back of a VSI, the line
is fed to the air data computer. One of the benefits
of glass displays is that the computers can provide
information that a pilot wouldn't be able to discern
in real time. On the G1000, for example, the computer takes vertical speed and provides a trend line
on the altitude display to show what the altitude
will be in six seconds. This trend line adjusts continuously as vertical speed changes.
When integrated with an autopilot, vertical
speed can also be selected as a target, which will be
shown as a bug fixed on the selected vertical speed
value. When the pointer and the bug align, you
know the autopilot is doing its job correctly.

4100
4000

3800
3700
3600

2
1
500

1
2

29.92IN
A quick look at the display can give two important pieces of information.
The black pointer above the horizon shows the airplane is climbing.
The number 500 shows it is climbing at a rate of 500 feet per minute,
which can also be ascertained by noting where exactly the pointer is
on the scale.

STEVE KARP

ian.twombly@aopa.org

5000

AOPA.ORG/FT  17



http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT

Flight Training - March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - March/April 2021

Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Intro
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Cover1
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Cover2
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 2
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 3
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 4
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 5
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 6
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 7
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 8
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 9
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 10
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 11
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 12
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 13
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 14
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 15
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 16
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 17
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 18
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 19
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 20
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 21
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 22
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 23
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 24
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 25
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 26
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 27
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 28
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 29
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 30
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 31
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Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 33
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 34
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - 35
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Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Cover3
Flight Training - March/April 2021 - Cover4
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