What is Cockpit

Cockpit

         A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin. From the cockpit an aircraft is controlled on the ground and in the air.

         The term described the sailing term for the coxswain's station in a Royal Navy ship, and later the location of the ship's rudder controls. Cockpit appeared in the English language in the 1580s, "a pit for fighting cocks", from cock + pit. Used in nautical sense (1706) for midshipmen's compartment below decks; transferred to airplanes (1914) and to cars (1930s). From about 1935 cockpit came to be used informally to refer to the driver's seat of a car, especially a high performance one, and this is official terminology in Formula One.

         The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that enable the pilot to fly the aircraft. In most airliners, a door separates the cockpit from the passenger compartment. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, all major airlines fortified the cockpit against access by hijackers. On an airliner, the cockpit is usually referred to as the flight deck. This term derives from its use by the RAF for the separate, upper platform in large flying boats where the pilot and co-pilot sat.

Instruments in the aircraft cockpit

         Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with information about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as altitude, speed and direction. The flight instruments are of particular use in conditions of poor visibility, such as in clouds, when such information is not available from visual reference outside the aircraft.

         The term is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for cockpit instruments as a whole, in which context it can include engine instruments, navigational and communication equipment.

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          The cockpit panel of a Slingsby T67C light aircraft (UK registration G-BOCM) at Kemble Airfield, Gloucestershire, England. The basic T is visible: in a row there are Airspeed, Attitude (coloured blue) and Altitude. Below the blue Atttitude is the vertical “bar” of the T (the Heading).

Some other type of imstruments images:

Most regulated aircraft have these flight instruments:

1 Altimeter

2 Attitude indicator
3 Airspeed indicator
4 Magnetic compass

5 Heading indicator

6 Vertical speed indicator

7 Course deviation indicator

8 Radio Magnetic Indicator

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1 Altimeter :

          The altimeter shows the aircraft's altitude above sea-level by measuring the difference between the pressure in a stack of aneroid capsules inside the altimeter and the atmospheric pressure obtained through the static system. It is adjustable for local barometric pressure which must be set correctly to obtain accurate altitude readings. As the aircraft ascends, the capsules expand and the static pressure drops, causing the altimeter to indicate a higher altitude. The opposite effect occurs when descending.

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2 Attittude Indicator:

          The attitude indicator (also known as an artificial horizon) shows the aircraft's relation to the horizon. From this the pilot can tell whether the wings are level and if the aircraft nose is pointing above or below the horizon. This is a primary instrument for instrument flight and is also useful in conditions of poor visibility. Pilots are trained to use other instruments in combination should this instrument or its power fail.

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3 Airspeed Indicator:

          The airspeed indicator shows the aircraft's speed (usually in knots ) relative to the surrounding air. It works by measuring the ram-air pressure in the aircraft's pitot tube. The indicated airspeed must be corrected for air density (which varies with altitude, temperature and humidity) in order to obtain the true airspeed, and for wind conditions in order to obtain the speed over the ground.

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4 Magnetic Compass:

          The compass shows the aircraft's heading relative to magnetic north. While reliable in steady level flight it can give confusing indications when turning, climbing, descending, or accelerating due to the inclination of the Earth's magnetic field. For this reason, the heading indicator is also used for aircraft operation. For purposes of navigation it may be necessary to correct the direction indicated (which points to a magnetic pole) in order to obtain direction of true north or south (which points to the Earth's axis of rotation).

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5 Heading Indicator: 

          The heading indicator (also known as the directional gyro, or DG; sometimes also called the gyrocompass, though usually not in aviation applications) displays the aircraft's heading with respect to magnetic north. Principle of operation is a spinning gyroscope, and is therefore subject to drift errors (called precession) which must be periodically corrected by calibrating the instrument to the magnetic compass. In many advanced aircraft (including almost all jet aircraft), the heading indicator is replaced by a Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) which provides the same heading information, but also assists with navigation.

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6 Vertical Speed Indicator :

          The VSI (also sometimes called a variometer, or rate of climb indicator) senses changing air pressure, and displays that information to the pilot as a rate of climb or descent in feet per minute, meters per second or knots.

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7 Course Deviation Indicator :

          The CDI is an avionics instrument used in aircraft navigation to determine an aircraft's lateral position in relation to a track, which can be provided by a VOR or an Instrument Landing System.
          This instrument can also be integrated with the heading indicator in a horizontal situation indicator.

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8 Radio Magnetic Indicator : 

          An RMI is generally coupled to an automatic direction finder (ADF), which provides bearing for a tuned Non-directional beacon (NDB). While simple ADF displays may have only one needle, a typical RMI has two, coupled to different ADF receivers, allowing for position fixing using one instrument.

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