As we go ahead to understand more about aircraft, we shall now discover more about another integral part of aircraft – the Cockpit

A cockpit or flight deckis the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Let’s see the linked video to understand more.   

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 aircraft cabin. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, all major airlines fortified their cockpits against access by hijackers.

The first airplane with an enclosed cabin appeared in 1912 on the Avro Type F; however, during the early 1920s there were many passenger aircraft in which the crew remained open to the air while the passengers sat in a cabin. Military biplanes and the first single-engine fighters and attack aircraft also had open cockpits, some as late as the Second World War when enclosed cockpits became the norm.

We will now also see various types of instruments in this and continuing editions.

Pitot Static Systems

These are instruments use air pressure differences to determine speed and altitude.

 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.

Air Speed Indicator

The airspeed indicator shows the aircraft’s speed relative to the surrounding air. Knots is the currently most used unit, but kilometers per hour is sometimes used instead. The airspeed indicator works by measuring the ram-air pressure in the aircraft’s Pitot tube relative to the ambient static pressure. 

By: Pradyumna Sharma