Attitude Indicator
Physical Attitude Indicator (artificial horizon) for the Cessna 172SP Six-Pack panel — bezel, horizon mechanism, and X-Plane dataref mapping.
4 min read Updated 2026-06
Overview
The Attitude Indicator (AI), also known as the artificial horizon, sits top-centre in the six-pack "T" arrangement. It shows aircraft pitch and roll against a moving horizon ball/disk, with a fixed miniature aircraft symbol for reference.
Construction
Like the other six-pack instruments, this gauge is built as a self-contained module:
- Bezel / Face Plate — 3D-printed bezel with a printed roll-angle scale around the rim
- Dial / Needle — the "dial" here is the horizon ball/disk itself rather than a needle
- Internal Mechanics — two axes of motion (pitch and roll) are required; whether this is built as a 2-axis servo-driven horizon ball or a small round display rendering the horizon graphic is to be decided during design
- Back Housing — 3D-printed enclosure mounting to the MIP frame's instrument cutout
- PCB & Controller — ESP32 driving the pitch/roll mechanism (or display) from X-Plane attitude data
- Lighting — backlighting for night/IFR panel illumination
X-Plane Integration
sim/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/pitch_deg_pilot
sim/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/roll_deg_pilot
Status
Planning — design not yet started.