True airspeed (TAS)

Definitions

• Calibrated airspeed corrected for altitude and nonstandard temperature. Because air density decreases with an increase in altitude, an airplane has to be flown faster at higher altitudes to cause the same pressure difference between pitot impact pres
• Actual airspeed, determined by applying a correction for pressure altitude and temperature to the CAS.
• Actual airspeed, determined by applying a correction for pressure altitude and temperature to the CAS. Because air density decreases with an increase in altitude, an airplane has to be flown faster at higher altitudes to cause the same pressure difference between pitot impact pressure and static pressure. Therefore, for a given calibrated airspeed, true airspeed increases as altitude increases; or for a given true airspeed, calibrated airspeed decreases as altitude increases.

References

• Airplane Flying Handbook, Federal Aviation Administration, 2021
• Instrument Flying Handbook, Federal Aviation Administration, 2014
• Weight-Shift Control Aircraft Flying Handbook, Federal Aviation Administration, 2008