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airport. Traditional navigation instruments include a clock and a magnetic compass. Along with the airspeed indicator and wind information, these can be used to calculate navigational progress. Radios and instruments sending locating information via radio waves have replaced these manual efforts in modern aircraft. Global position systems (GPS) use satellites to pinpoint the location of the aircraft via geometric triangulation. This technology is built into some aircraft instrument packages for navigational purposes. Many of these aircraft navigational systems are discussed in chapter 11 of this handbook. [Figure 10-8] 

To understand how various instruments work and can be repaired and maintained, they can be classified according to the principle upon which they operate. Some use mechanical methods to measure pressure and temperature. Some utilize magnetism and electricity to sense and display a parameter. Others depend on the use of gyroscopes in their primary workings. Still others utilize solid state sensors and computers to process and display important information. In the following sections, the different operating principles for sensing parameters are explained. Then, an overview of many of the engine, flight, and navigation instruments is given. 

## Pressure Measuring Instruments 

A number of instruments inform the pilot of the aircraft’s condition and flight situations through the measurement of pressure. Pressure-sensing instruments can be found in the flight group and the engine group. They can be either direct reading or remote sensing. These are some of the most critical instruments on the aircraft and must accurately inform the pilot to maintain safe operations. Pressure measurement involves some sort of mechanism that can sense changes in pressure. A technique for calibration and displaying the information is then added to inform the pilot. The type of pressure needed to be measured often makes one sensing 

mechanism more suited for use in a particular instance. The three fundamental pressure-sensing mechanisms used in aircraft instrument systems are the Bourdon tube, the diaphragm or bellows, and the solid-state sensing device. 

A Bourdon tube is illustrated in Figure 10-9.  The open end of this coiled tube is fixed in place and the other end is sealed and free to move. When a fluid that needs to be measured is directed into the open end of the tube, the unfixed portion of the coiled tube tends to straighten out. The higher the pressure of the fluid, the more the tube straightens. When the pressure is reduced, the tube recoils. A pointer is attached to this moving end of the tube, usually through a linkage of small shafts and gears. By calibrating this motion of the straightening tube, a face or dial of the instrument can be created. Thus, by observing the pointer movement along the scale of the instrument face positioned behind it, pressure increases and decreases are communicated to the pilot. 

The Bourdon tube is the internal mechanism for many pressure gauges used on aircraft. When high pressures need to be measured, the tube is designed to be stiff. Gauges used to 

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