Attitude Instrument Flying
The whole instrument rating reduces to one core skill: continuously interpreting six instruments to maintain a known aircraft state. The scan is the foundation. Get this wrong and nothing else in IFR works.
The Three Parts of the Scan
- Cross-check — Continuous, systematic observation of all instruments. Each eye movement should be 10° or less; each instrument observed for at least one second.
- Interpretation — Translating raw indications into aircraft state: pitch, bank, power, trim, heading, altitude, airspeed, climb/descent rate.
- Control — Adjusting flight controls to correct deviations and maintain the desired performance.
The pilot finds the scan that works for them. There's no single correct pattern — only one that's comfortable, efficient, and complete.
Three Common Scan Patterns
- Hub and Spoke: Attitude indicator is the hub. Eyes return to it after every other instrument. Best for new instrument students — keeps you anchored to the most-used instrument.
- Rectangular: Scan all instruments systematically left-to-right or in a fixed pattern. Less efficient but ensures nothing is omitted. Useful in cruise.
- Inverted-V: Attitude indicator → turn coordinator → attitude indicator → VSI → attitude indicator. Effective for partial panel and recovery.
Most pilots use the selective radial scan: jump from the attitude indicator to whichever instrument is most relevant to the current phase of flight, then back to the AI.
Power + Attitude = Performance
The fundamental relationship of instrument flying. Set a known attitude and a known power setting, trim, then verify with the performance instruments — the aircraft will produce a known result.
- Establish an attitude and power setting
- Trim
- Cross-check instruments to verify desired performance
- Adjust controls as necessary
If you're chasing instruments instead of setting a configuration and verifying, you're behind the aircraft. Pick targets, hit them, then check.
Primary and Supporting Instruments
For each maneuver, certain instruments are primary (most direct indication of the desired result) and others are supporting (indirect or trend indications). The same instrument can be primary or supporting depending on the maneuver.
Pick your primary by asking: what is the objective of this maneuver? The instrument that most directly shows that objective is your primary.
Straight & Level Flight (constant heading, altitude, airspeed):
- Bank (straight): Primary — heading indicator. Supporting — attitude indicator, turn coordinator, magnetic compass
- Pitch (altitude): Primary — altimeter. Supporting — attitude indicator, VSI, ASI
- Power (airspeed): Primary — airspeed indicator. Supporting — altimeter, VSI
Climbs / descents: The performance instrument that most directly shows the desired rate becomes primary (e.g., VSI for a constant-rate descent; ASI for a constant-airspeed climb).
Turns (entry / rollout): Attitude indicator is primary for bank during the entry. Once established, the heading indicator becomes primary.
The Three Scan Errors
Almost every instrument problem traces to one of these:
- Fixation: Concentrating on a single instrument and neglecting all others. Often happens during corrections — pilot stares at the altimeter trying to fly back to altitude and lets bank or heading drift. Recovery: deliberately move your eyes off the instrument and continue the cross-check.
- Emphasis: Giving disproportionate time to one instrument. Different from fixation — other instruments are still scanned, just briefly. Common with the attitude indicator. Recovery: even out the dwell time across the panel.
- Omission: Forgetting to include an instrument in the scan. The most commonly omitted are the turn coordinator, VSI, and engine performance gauges. Recovery: every minute or so, deliberately check all six.
Recognize these in yourself first — recognizing them in the moment is what separates a partial panel survivor from a partial panel statistic.
The Six Pack
Standard instrument layout — pitot-static on the top row, gyroscopic on the bottom row, in T-pattern around the attitude indicator:
- Top row: Airspeed Indicator (left), Attitude Indicator (center), Altimeter (right)
- Bottom row: Turn Coordinator (left), Heading Indicator (center), Vertical Speed Indicator (right)
Pitot-static instruments: ASI, altimeter, VSI — all driven by ram air pressure (pitot) and ambient static pressure.
Gyroscopic instruments: Attitude indicator, heading indicator (vacuum or electric), turn coordinator (electric).
Knowing which power source drives which instrument is critical for partial panel — when one source fails, you lose multiple instruments in a predictable group. See the IFR Emergencies page.