Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL
E
By Col. Thomas J. DuBose
Deputy, Asst. Chief of Air Staff, Training
ARLY this year, the Am1\' Air Forces
adopted one standard arrangement for
the grouping of the six basic flight in
st rumcnts on the instrument panels of A,\F
aircraft. The new arrangement, known as
the Standard Flight Instrument Panel, was
made official bv Technical Order No. 01-1-
160 dated \ Iarc'h II. 1944.
The Standard I'light Instrument Panel
has the six basic flight instrumcnts arrangcd
in two horizontal rows, one above the other,
with three iust rmucntx in each row. In the
upper W\V, reading from left tn right as
vicwccl bv the pilot, arc the airspeed indicator.
the tnrn indicator (dircctional gno),
and the flight indicator (£;\TO horizon or
artificial horizon }. In the lower row. again
reading from left to right, arc the altimeter,
the turn and bank iudic.itor. and the rate of
climb indirrtor. If, in addition to the six
basic flight instr utu cu t s, the cross pointer
and the radio compass arc installed in the
airplane. tlu-v arc placed one above the other
to the left of the two TO\\'S with the cross
pointer in the npper position,
"'o\\' whv \V;IS it ncccssarv to adopt a
stanclarcl .u r.macnicnt for the gronpin£; of
these inst rumcnt s? .\nc1. if there \\'as snch a
requirement, wliv was this particular arrange,
ment Iinullv adopted?
As regards the first question, up until this
new panel arrangcment \\'as officially adopted
there were, in the various aircraft of the
.vnuv Air Forces, some ..j 3 different official
or c[nasi'offieial arrangements of the flight
instruments. At one base it was found that
there were four different arrangements in
four airplanes of tIle s.unc model operating
from the base. Obviouslv, such a condition
was cxt rcnrcl ,' llnd:.:~i:-~1~)1c.
36
The Armv Air Forces considers it essential
that its' pilots be able to flv on invt rumcnts.
Almost cvcrv combat mission, trans,
port. or domestic 'erosscountry flight demands
skill in instrument flying.
Flying on inst nuncnts in modern high
pcrfonuancc airplanes demands much of the
pilot. Bdore he c.m bec-ome an instnuucnt
pilot he must succcssfullv complete a stiff
tI:li"il'g cou rxc. Before he c.m become a
tru!v c.rp.iblc instrument pilot he must eont.nuc
to practice iuvt rmucnt fll,ing if he is
to rct ain his skill. For s.ifcrv. cfficicncv. and
ccouomv e\'Cnthing possible muvt be' done
to simplifv his task. not onlv clurius; the
trail:ing period, but thronghont his instru-
111Cllt n~.ill~ career.
From the: training angle alone. the efficient
mass prod net ion of pilots, able to flv
on instrumcnt s. demands st.md.mlizat io» in
all phases of instruction. Sneh standardization
is imposxiblc without a st.mdurd ar-
LnH.;ement of the fligl't iu-f nnucutx.
liu.illv, the LIck of uniform itv in inst mmcut
p,inels means just one more unncccss.uv
complication in the alrc.ulv complex
problem of mass production of aircraft.
.\s regards the second qucstiou-i-whv the
particular arrangement finullv adopted:~the
.:vnnv Air I-'cJrccs started workius; on the devclopmcnt
of the Standard Fhght Inxtrumcnt
Panel uc.irlv !\\'C) years ago.
To the office of the Assistant Chief of
Air Staff, Training, was given the responsihility
of detcrmining [ust what was the
most acceptable lay-out for a standard panel
and of monitoring the project through to
completion,
The modern concept of instrument flYing
is based on teaching the student to visualize
I Airspeed Indicator
2 Turn Indicator
3 Flight Indicator
4 Al t imctcr
5 Turn and Bank Indicator
6 Rate of Climb Indicator
7 Clock
8 Air Temp, Gauge
9 Carburetor Temp, Gauge
10 Radio Compass
1 I Suction Cauge
12 Volt Meter
13 Am meter
14 Localizer Indicator
15 Oil Temp, Cauge
16 Cvlindcr Head Temp, Gauge
17 :\Iagnetie Compass
18 RP\l Xlctcr
19 I\lanifold Pressure Gauge
20 Fuel x Iixturc Gauge
the attitude of his nirpl.mc from the instrument
readings, By learning to do this, the
student mukcx the ncccvsarv corrections from
his visual izntion of his airplane's attitude,
rather th.iu mcchanicallv movinr; the controls
so th.rl the pointers of the instrument
dials assume the proper positions for the at
tit udc desired. To do this pr oporlv, the stu
dent must learn to ut il izc all six of the basic
night instruments. The skilled iustrumcut
pilot, traiucd in accord.mcc wit l: this COli
«cpt. can instnntant-ouslv and nutomnt icallv
create from the instrument rCldings a mental
picture of his airpl.uic» attitude. '[,his, then,
\\as the basis OIl wh ic]: the St.mclarcl Flight
Iuxt rumcuf Panel \\':IS developed.
For nc.ir!v I S months, the officers of the
\ latcricl Cc;mmand and Training Commancl
charged wit l. clcvclopuu; the p.mcl con,
duttrcl studies and cxpcrimcnt s, iucludiui;
cxliaust ivc tests under actual invtrumcut
conditions. of v.ir iou-, gronpings of the flight
instruments. In c.n rviur; on these studies
and tests. the .idvirc :1;](1 :lssist:llll'e of opcrut
i;lg uuitx in the ficld were solicitcel and ob
t.iincd. Both tr:lining aud operational COlI,
sidcrat ions were c.ircfullv weighed, Fiuallv.
there was evolved an inst rumcnt :nrangeincut
\\'hich seemed to till the hill. \ lcdicII
research In' the office of t lIe ,\ir Slllgeon in
connection with the tests on tks proposed
lavout substantiated its desirahiJit\, from the
.t.mdpoint of minil11iz.ing fliglIt Lliigue. This
'Irr:lllgcmcnt \\':IS adopted as the St.md.ml
night l nst nuucut Pane!'
The major aclv.iutugcs of the standard
p.mc] arc:
1. 'I'uc arr'lllgement meets tr:lining requirements
in t hnt :111 six b.i-,ic flight
inxtrumcuts arc grouped together.
2, The airspeed indicator is dircctlv over
the altimeter which is ncr-css.rrv for
aeemacv in homhing operations. .
3, The turn indicator (directional gno)
is clircctlv over the turn and hank in
dic.itor \~'hieh allows for vcrt ical sight,
ing bv the pilot and his immediate perception
of failure of either instrument,
4. 'lhc airspeed indicator, the altimeter,
(Continued on Page 44)
AIR FORCE