Which term is the indicated airspeed of an aircraft corrected for position and instrument error?

Which term is the indicated airspeed of an aircraft corrected for position and instrument error?

• A. Calibrated Airspeed
• B. Indicated Airspeed
• C. True Airspeed
• D. Ground Speed

Answer: (A)

Airspeed readings start as the indicated airspeed shown by the instrument, but that value isn’t yet corrected for how the aircraft’s installation and the instrument itself can skew the reading. When you apply corrections for position errors (how the pitot-static system is placed and how the airplane’s shape and angle of attack affect the measurement) and instrument errors, you get calibrated airspeed. This corrected value is what pilots use as a more accurate measure of speed relative to the air, and it sits between the raw indicated airspeed and the true airspeed in the progression. To reach true airspeed, you’d then account for air density changes with altitude and temperature, and to get ground speed you’d correct for wind. So the term for indicated airspeed corrected for position and instrument error is calibrated airspeed.

Airspeed readings start as the indicated airspeed shown by the instrument, but that value isn’t yet corrected for how the aircraft’s installation and the instrument itself can skew the reading. When you apply corrections for position errors (how the pitot-static system is placed and how the airplane’s shape and angle of attack affect the measurement) and instrument errors, you get calibrated airspeed. This corrected value is what pilots use as a more accurate measure of speed relative to the air, and it sits between the raw indicated airspeed and the true airspeed in the progression. To reach true airspeed, you’d then account for air density changes with altitude and temperature, and to get ground speed you’d correct for wind. So the term for indicated airspeed corrected for position and instrument error is calibrated airspeed.