The Amazing Altimeter - How Does It Work?
The airplane’s altimeter displays the altitude of the airplane. Most pilots understand that the altimeter uses the weight of the atmosphere (the pressure) to determine the altitude of an airplane, but exactly how does it do that? The concept is simple, but in practice, maybe not so simple. Atmospheric pressure varies hour to hour and place to place; so how does the instrument, the altimeter, reflect a correct height above ground when the base line reference is constantly changing?
Your host for this video is Jim Alsip, a Master Certified Flight Instructor Emeritus. This video is one in a series of Hangar Talks that share with you some of the key points developed in Jim’s books Flying the Tailwheel Airplane, Artistry of the Great Flyer and A Pilot’s Guide to Airmanship and Aerodynamics. They can be purchased at Amazon.com. If you enjoy watching the Hangar Talk videos, and you want to learn about stick and rudder skills, you can take advantage of the resources presented on Jim’s website: dylanaviation.com.