Airspeed Indicator Markings

The airspeed indicator restates the limitations in colour, and on this type three of the marks move if the increased take-off mass modification is carried out. Read the arcs as a picture of the previous lesson's numbers.

At a glance

• White arc64 – 119 KIAS (69 – 119 KIAS with MÄM 62-001)
• Green arc70 – 162 KIAS (73 – 162 KIAS with MÄM 62-001)
• Yellow arc162 – 205 KIAS
• Blue radial87 KIAS (89 KIAS with MÄM 62-001)
• Lower red radial76 KIAS
• Upper red radial205 KIAS

The arcs

• White arc — 64 to 119 KIAS, the operating range with flaps fully extended. If MÄM 62-001 is carried out the white arc becomes 69 to 119 KIAS.

• Green arc — 70 to 162 KIAS, the normal operating range. With MÄM 62-001 carried out, 73 to 162 KIAS.

• Yellow arc — 162 to 205 KIAS, the caution range, to be used only in smooth air.

Both arcs that begin near the stall move up with the increased mass modification, and both keep their upper end where it was.

Figure: Airspeed indicator markings (redrawn).

The radials

• Blue radial — 87 KIAS, the single-engine best rate of climb speed; 89 KIAS if MÄM 62-001 is carried out.

• Lower red radial — 76 KIAS, the single-engine minimum control speed.

• Upper red radial — 205 KIAS, the maximum speed for all operations, vNE.

The two single-engine marks sit close together near the bottom of the dial: red at 76, blue at 87. Red is the floor you must stay above; blue is the speed that buys the best climb.

Check yourself

• What does the white arc cover, and where does it start and end?

• Which three markings change when MÄM 62-001 is carried out, and to what?

• What speeds do the two red radials mark, and what does each one mean?

• What does the blue radial mark?

Study aid — always fly your aircraft's current AFM/POH.