Here's a photo of the instrument panel in one of the Club's Cessna 172s. The major instruments and controls are indicated.

Airspeed indicator - displays the speed the airplane is flying relative to the air moving past it. The instrument is run from a pitot tube that sticks out into the airflow in front of the left wi

ADF - the Automatic Direction Finder is used for navigation. The needle on the instrument points to a radio beacon that the pilots selects.

Altimeter - displays the airplane's height above sea level. The Altimeter is basically a barometer - when the plane goes up, the air pressure drops and the instrument shows an increase in altitude. In this photo the plane is a little below 4000 feet ASL (average sea level), which is the altitude of the Flying Club at Springbank Airport.

Attitude Indicator - shows the plane's position relative to the horizon and tells the pilot if the plane is tilted up, down, left or right. The instrument is sometimes called an Artificial Horizon.

Control Yoke - has two functions: 1) it turns left/right to move the ailerons on the wings which bank and turn the plane, and 2) pulling back or pushing forward moves the elevators at the tail to make the nose of the plane go up or down.

Engine RPM Gauge - indicates how fast the engine is turning the propeller and gives the pilot an indication of how much power the engine is producing.

Flap Control - moves the flaps (surfaces on the back of the wings) up and down. The flaps are used to increase lift and drag and are generally used to allow the plane to land at a slower airspeed.

Heading Indicator - is set by the pilot to show the magnetic heading the plane is flying. The HI is run from a gyroscope inside the instrument and is more stable in flight than a magnetic compass.

ILS - the Instrument Landing System is used to navigate the plane to a runway for landing when the pilot can't see - ie. due to cloud.

Magnetic Compass - indicates direction based on the magnetic pole. This type of compass tends to bounce around a lot during flight so it is used in conjunction with the Heading Indicator.

Mixture Control - selects the ratio of fuel to air being burned in the engine and is adjusted with altitude to help the engine run most efficiently. See also throttle.

Radios - are used to communicate with ground stations and other aircraft. Navigation radios are also used to select frequencies for the ILS, VOR and ADF.

Rudder Pedals - control the left and right movement of the rudder at the tail. The rudders control steering on the ground in most aircraft, and control yaw (left/right swinging of the nose of the plane) during flight.

Throttle - Controls the amount of fuel being burned by the engine. More fuel = more power = more thrust. See also Mixture Control.

Transponder - sends a 4-digit code to a radar station whenever the plane is swept by a radar signal. The transponder may also report the plane's altitude to the radar station. The coded information is used by air-traffic controllers to identify aircraft.

Turn Co-ordinator - shows the rate of turn of the aircraft.

Vertical Speed Indicator - uses changes in air pressure to indicate the rate the plane is climbing or descending.

VOR - the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range instrument is used for navigation. A VOR station on the ground sends out signals like the spokes of a wheel and the VOR receiver in the aircraft uses this information to determine which "spoke" the airplane is flying on and whether the plane is heading to or from the VOR ground station.