Instrument Systems

Pitot-static and air data, gyroscopic/AHRS instruments, EFIS/EICAS and the FDR/CVR recorders.

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Main ideas

The PITOT-STATIC system feeds the pressure instruments: the STATIC port feeds the altimeter, ASI and VSI, while the PITOT probe feeds only the ASI; air data computers (ADCs) now compute airspeed, altitude and Mach electronically.
ATTITUDE and HEADING come from gyroscopic instruments or modern AHRS/IRS (laser/ring gyros), displayed on the EFIS — the primary flight display (PFD) and navigation display (ND).
EICAS/ECAM centralise engine and system indication with alerting; standby instruments and a standby power source provide a backup if the main displays fail.
Mandatory RECORDERS — the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the 'black boxes' — capture parameters and audio for accident investigation and are crash/fire-protected.
A central warning/caution system prioritises alerts; data is shared over ARINC 429/629 digital buses.
⚠ Exam trap: the STATIC source feeds the altimeter, ASI and VSI (pitot feeds only the ASI); the FDR and CVR are the crash-protected 'black boxes' — the FDR records flight parameters, the CVR records cockpit audio.

Solved examples

What are the two mandatory crash-protected recorders and what does each capture?
The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) continuously records a large set of aircraft parameters (attitude, speed, altitude, control positions, engine data, etc.), and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) records the flight-deck audio (crew speech, radio and ambient sounds). Both are housed in crash- and fire-resistant units with underwater locator beacons, so investigators can recover the data after an accident.

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