Directional gyros are used in aircraft cockpits to indicate direction of travel, as magnetic compasses can be inaccurate during flight. Gyroscopes maintain orientation, and the need for periodic correction is greater near the poles. Sophisticated aircraft use electronic slave gyros. Gyroscopes also work in space.
A directional gyroscope, with the word gyroscope meaning gyroscope, is an instrument used to indicate the direction in which an aircraft is traveling. Using magnetic compasses alone can sometimes lead to errors during certain aircraft flight modes. Directional gyros are typically used in combination with a magnetic compass and are found in a cockpit. A variety of directional gyros can be found with different levels of complexity.
When an aircraft pitches or rolls to its side, a magnetic compass needle will usually start pointing in the wrong direction. This is called the dive error, and it increases as a pilot banks a plane. Similarly, compasses will read incorrectly during periods of acceleration and deceleration. Except in times of stable and level flight, it is necessary to take an aircraft’s orientation into account for accurate heading measurements.
To determine the orientation of an aircraft, a gyroscope is used. Gyroscopes are based on the principle of conservation of angular momentum. A disk is mounted on a rotating frame and is rotated at a high rotational speed. The result is a rotating disk that will maintain the same orientation regardless of changes in frame orientation. In an aircraft, for example, the rotating disk will point in the same direction even as the aircraft pitches, yaws, and rolls.
The fact that the Earth rotates means that a directional gyroscope must occasionally reset from a compass reference. This need for periodic correction is experienced closer to the poles and less near the Earth’s equator. In a simple aircraft, the pilot can manually recalibrate the directional gyroscope several times per hour. The most sophisticated aircraft use what are called slave gyros, which are continually updated electronically.
The output display of a directional gyroscope is similar to that of a compass. Often there is an outline of a plane with its nose pointing in the direction of travel. The numbers generally start at the north position and increase clockwise in a full circle. The numbers can represent tens of degrees ranging from 0 to 36 instead of 0 to 360 degrees.
On a spacecraft, magnetic compasses are generally not useful. However, a form of directional gyroscope can be used to determine orientation. Gyroscopes work perfectly well in space because the law of conservation of angular momentum applies universally. As long as the spinning disk of the gyroscope does not slow excessively due to friction, the axis of rotation of the gyroscope will maintain the same orientation.
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