An altimeter (Acronym from “Altitude” and “Meter”) is a flight instrument that is responsible for measuring and indicating an aircraft’s altitude from desired reference points such as ground, mean sea level, a specific aerodrome, or station.
There are mainly two types of altimeters used by aircraft: Pressure Altimeter and Radar Altimeter.
Pressure Altimeter
A pressure altimeter, sometimes referred to as a pitot-static altimeter, uses the aircraft’s pitot-static system to measure the difference between static pressure (supplied by static port) and dynamic pressure (supplied by pitot-static) to provide the flight crew with the airspeed.
Operational Workflow
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Errors
Sometimes, the altitude display by the altimeter faces some errors or lags. One reason for the is the blockage of the static port and or pitot tube; if this blockage happened due to a frozen liquid such as water, it can be removed with the use of heater elements installed inside or onboard the pitot-static port.
Radio (Radar) Altimeter
Conversely, a Radar Altimeter, sometimes known as Radio Altimeter, is designed to sense the height of an aircraft from the nearest surface beneath the aircraft. Depending on the application, some military aircraft start to sense
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Resources and References
- Jeppesen Sanderson. “Pitot-Static Instruments.” Chap. 3 In Private Pilot Manual, 2-11. Englewood, Colorado, USA: Jeppesen Sanderson Training 1992.
- Federal Aviation Administration. “Aircraft Systems.” Chap. 10 In Aviation Maintenance Technician Handbook—Airframe, 1-24. Oklahoma City, OK, USA: Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards Service, 2023.
- Jeppesen Sanderson, Atlantic Flight Training. “Pitot-Static System.” Chap. 2 In JAA ATPL Instrumentation, 1-6. Neu-Isenberg, Germany: Jeppesen Sanderson, 2004.
- Jeppesen Sanderson, Atlantic Flight Training. “Radio Altimeter.” Chap. 21 In JAA ATPL Instrumentation. JAA ATPL Training, 1-5. Neu-Isenberg, Germany: Jeppesen Sanderson, 2004.
