Artificial Horizon

The artificial horizon is a primary gyroscopic flight instrument that displays the aircraft's pitch and roll attitude relative to the horizon. It typically relies on a vacuum or electrical power source to spin its internal gyroscope. A loss of suction will cause the gyroscope to spool down and provide false pitch and bank indications.

Key Points

• •Operates on the gyroscopic principle of <strong>rigidity in space</strong> to maintain a stable reference.
• •Most commonly driven by the aircraft's vacuum (suction) system.
• •A loss of suction will cause the gyroscope to spool down and produce false pitch and bank indications.
• •Failure of the vacuum system affects the artificial horizon and directional indicator, but generally not the electrically driven turn coordinator.

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