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CAS is the same as true air speed at sea level standard conditions, but becomes smaller relative to true airspeed as we climb into lower pressure and cooler air. Nevertheless, it remains a good measure of the forces acting on the airplane, meaning stall speeds can be called out on the airspeed indicator.
The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometres per hour (km/h), knots (kn or kt), miles per hour (MPH) and/or metres per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km/h, however knots (kt) is currently the most used unit.
Since indicated, as opposed to true, airspeed is a better indicator of margin above the stall, true airspeed is not used for controlling the aircraft; for these purposes the indicated airspeed – IAS or KIAS (knots indicated airspeed) – is used. However, since indicated airspeed only shows true speed through the air at standard sea level ...
Aircraft use pitot tubes to measure airspeed. This example, from an Airbus A380, combines a pitot tube (right) with a static port and an angle-of-attack vane (left). Air-flow is right to left.
A basic airspeed indicator with the indicated airspeed (IAS) indicated in knots ("Kt" or "Kts" or "KIAS") -- the most common unit of measure for airspeed. Some airspeed indicators in aircraft prior to the mid-1970s indicate in miles per hour plus knots (1 knot = 1.15 mph) or kilometers per hour (1 knot = 1.85 km/h).
The indicated airspeed is close to the true airspeed only at sea level in standard conditions and at low speeds. At 11 000 m ( 36 000 ft), an indicated airspeed of 300 kn may correspond to a true airspeed of 500 kn in standard conditions.
The airspeed indicator shows the aircraft's speed relative to the surrounding air. Knots is the currently most used unit, but kilometers per hour is sometimes used instead. The airspeed indicator works by measuring the ram-air pressure in the aircraft's pitot tube relative to the ambient static pressure.
for navigation, CAS is traditionally calculated as one of the steps between indicated airspeed and true airspeed; for aircraft control, CAS (and EAS) are the primary reference points, since they describe the dynamic pressure acting on aircraft surfaces regardless of density, altitude, wind, and other conditions.
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