Remove Altimeter Remove Descent Remove Stability
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Airspeed and Altitude Control Simplified: Tips for Stable Flying

Pilot Institute

Using the VSI and Altimeter for Stability The vertical speed indicator and altimeter are your best tools for maintaining a steady altitude. Although they each provide specific information, using them together will give you a better picture of your stability. In a climb or descent, this is just as true.

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The anatomy of a commercial flight – all you ever wanted to know:   Part two   

Aerotime

We will also examine the next most critical phase of our flight, from descent and deceleration to the approach and landing phases, even touching upon what happens when the aircraft arrives safely at the gate. Mario Hagen / Shutterstock The announcement will also be one of the first items on the pilots before-descent checklist.

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The Six Pack: Basic Flight Instruments

Pilot Institute

The six primary instruments (the six-pack) are the Attitude Indicator (AI), Heading Indicator (HI), Turn Coordinator, Airspeed Indicator, Altimeter, and the Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI). The stability of the spinning disc increases with an increase in mass or speed of the disc. The altimeter has two needles, one long and one short.

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Airspeed & Vertical Speed

Plane and Pilot

If there’s a hill to climb, there are two options: Leave the throttle alone, and the car (airplane) will climb the hill but slow down and stabilize at a slower speed going up the hill. For example, in a 200-feet-per-minute descent, a typical light plane will only gain a little speed. Does that mean too fast, too high, or a combination?

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Basic attitude instrument flying – the foundation for IFR flight

Flight Training Central

First, the airplane is more stable in pitch than bank and, if you are a typical VFR pilot, you refer to the altimeter more than to the heading indicator. Just as an excessive climb or descent will cause you to overshoot altitude, an excessive rate of turn results in overshooting the target heading. Now let’s look at descents.

Descent 52
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“Totally a visibility issue.”

Fear of Landing

The controller confirmed a descent to 3,000 feet, the minimum safe altitude for BEGKA. There was no real way of testing the stability of everything that high up. At the point of the visual descent (visual should perhaps be in quotes here), the Mooney was still a mile and a half from the runway but flying at 587 feet.

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How to Land an Airplane

Pilot Institute

Descent Point Nominate a descent point that will give you a constant 3° profile to the threshold. This allows you to configure appropriately and ensures a stabilized approach. We can calculate the rate of descent required to achieve a 3° profile. Add a zero to this number, and you have your target rate of descent.