| Turn
Coordinator |
1 |
See
Cliff Rice. |
| Airspeed
Indicator |
2 |
Tells you how fast you are flying relative to
the air. |
| Suction
Gauge |
3 |
Indicates the amount of pressure available to
power the instruments. |
| Directional
Indicator |
4 |
Like a compass, this you where you are headed
but is much more stable. |
| Attitude
Indicator |
5 |
A.k.a. Artificial Horizon. This one is handy if
you are flying in cloud and you're not sure if the nose of the plane
is pointing into the ground or up into the sky. |
| Registration
Number |
6 |
The name of your plane, to be used when
contacting Air Traffic Control. |
| Vertical
Speed Indicator |
7 |
Tells whether you are climbing or descending,
and at what speed. |
| Altimeter |
8 |
This tells you your altitude |
| Clock |
9 |
This tells the time to the minute, in Greenwich
Mean Time. |
| ILS
Glide Slope Indicator |
10 |
Some planes have this to help them land in
cloudy conditions when electronic assistance is required. |
| Transponder |
11 |
An electronic identifier that tells the guys on
the ground looking at their radar exactly which spot on their screen
is you. |
| ADF
Radio |
12 |
A navigational aid that gives you the angle
between your plane, North and a radio station. This box enables you
to find the radio station you want. |
| Marker
Beacon |
13 |
Used to tell people landing in cloudy
conditions that they are approaching the runway. |
| Radio |
14 |
This box controls who you talk to when speaking
in the microphone. |
| Audio
Control Panel |
15 |
This box controls outward messages on the
microphones. It selects the receiving stations and headsets and also
controls the volume. |
| Flight
Hour Recorder |
16 |
This one tells you how much you owe the owner
of the plane. |
| Tachometer |
17 |
Same thing, but this one records the time you
use the plane from the moment you start the engine till you turn it
off. |
| EGT |
18 |
Some planes have this to help smart pilots
adjust the air/fuel mix for optimum performance as they climb in
thin air. |
| ADF
Bearing Indicator |
19 |
This gives your bearings according to #12:
the ADF
Radio. This box is
old, tricky and unreliable but is still widely used. |
| Accelerometer |
20 |
In case you thought you were in the Navy, you
can tell from this dial how many G's you and the plane are
experiencing. Too high, too bad. |
| Low-VoltageWarning
Light |
21 |
If the engine or the battery is
not generating enough electricity, this one blinks. |
| Ammeter |
22 |
This one measures the current in
the electric circuitry, but is it coming from the engine or the
battery? |
| Map
Compartment |
23 |
Where you put everything that
might fly about in rough weather. |
| Cabin
Heat Control |
24 |
If you're cold, the engine will
lend you some hot air. |
| Cabin
Air Control |
25 |
If you are talking too much or
there's a bit of heavy breathing going on and you're fogging up the
cabin, you can use this control to get some fresh air - the sort you
get at 6000 feet. |
| Circuit
Breakers |
26 |
You should check these -
frequently - at the beginning of the flight to see if your smart
boxes, at least, are correctly fed. |
| Wing
Flaps Controls and Indicators |
27 |
These control the electric flaps.
They're clever devices that increase the size and angle of your
wings when necessary. |
| Mixture
Control |
28 |
Use this to adjust the fuel/air
mixture to provide the engine with optimal fuel. |
| Throttle |
29 |
This one is to go forward. |
| Microphone |
30 |
No comment. |
| Carburetor
Heat Control |
31 |
This is a very important and
rather complicated control. If you are flying in damp air, and if
the air temperature is within a certain range, the carburetor (that
piece of the engine that brings in the air needed to ignite the
fuel) could FREEZE, and then you could crash and die. So in cold or
wet conditions, you always have the option of warming the
carburetor, however, this means you lose power and expose the engine
to some additional troubles. |
| Elevator
Trim Control Wheel |
32 |
This helps you to adjust the
elevator (the thing that makes you go up and down) so that you can
leave the control wheel alone instead of pulling on it like crazy. |
| Electrical
Switches |
33 |
These turn various lights on and
off. |
| Oil
Pressure Gauge |
34 |
Like the one in you car. |
| Oil
Temperature Gauge |
35 |
Same thing. |
| Instrument
Panel Lights |
36 |
If you
are flying at night, you need to see the control panel but you don't
want it to dazzle you. This knob adjusts the light. |
| Fuel
Quantity Indicators |
37 |
VERY important, these tell you
very APPROXIMATELY how much fuel you still have, or how much was
left by the last guy who flew the airplane. |
| Ignition
Switch |
38 |
To start the engine, turn the key. |
| Master
Switch |
39 |
This turns on all the electrical
devices in the airplane. |
| Primer |
40 |
Use this to inject some fuel into
the engine before starting it. |
| Parking
Brakes Control |
41 |
This brakes the wheels while the
plane is on the ground. Note that it can be deadly if you forget to
release the brakes before landing the plane. Then you can blow the
main tires on landing, leaving you to proceed on down the runway as
best you can. |
