Which vertical mode maintains a specified altitude?

Which vertical mode maintains a specified altitude?

• A. Altitude Select
• B. Altitude Hold
• C. Pitch
• D. Glide Slope

Answer: (B)

Controlling altitude requires a vertical mode that actively stabilizes the aircraft at a chosen height. Altitude Hold does exactly that: once you set a target altitude and the autopilot captures it, this mode maintains that altitude by adjusting pitch and vertical speed as needed to counter winds and other forces. It stays at the specified height until you command a change, disengage, or switch to another vertical mode. The other options don’t serve this purpose as their primary function. Altitude Select is used to input the desired altitude, but it doesn’t continuously hold that altitude by itself; it prepares the system to capture the altitude. Glide slope provides guidance to follow a descent path on an ILS approach, which involves changing altitude to stay on the glide path. Pitch is a manual attitude setting and doesn’t automatically hold a fixed altitude.

Controlling altitude requires a vertical mode that actively stabilizes the aircraft at a chosen height. Altitude Hold does exactly that: once you set a target altitude and the autopilot captures it, this mode maintains that altitude by adjusting pitch and vertical speed as needed to counter winds and other forces. It stays at the specified height until you command a change, disengage, or switch to another vertical mode.

The other options don’t serve this purpose as their primary function. Altitude Select is used to input the desired altitude, but it doesn’t continuously hold that altitude by itself; it prepares the system to capture the altitude. Glide slope provides guidance to follow a descent path on an ILS approach, which involves changing altitude to stay on the glide path. Pitch is a manual attitude setting and doesn’t automatically hold a fixed altitude.