Peter Duniho wrote:

Altitude, airspeed, and power settings are the key performance indicators on
the instrument panel. Altitude is the hardest to estimate, but it's not too
hard to tell the difference between "pattern altitude" and "cruise
altitude". The main reason for needing the altimeter is to comply with
various regulatory issues; either to cruise at an appropriate altitude, or
to avoid (or remain inside) particular airspace.

Airspeed is less difficult than altitude. You get plenty of feedback from
the noise the air makes as it goes past the airframe, and from the feel of
the flight controls (they get more difficult to move as airspeed increases).
In addition, as long as you can maintain a specific power setting and can
tell your pitch attitude, you can pretty fairly predict what your actual
airspeed is going to be.

Thanks, Pete. I wasn't asking any specific questions as such, and only
wanted to know whether you guys can generally tell these parameters
without actually reading them off the instruments.

"Airspeed is less difficult than altitude" gives me a definite complex,
because that was the one thing I just couldn't estimate at all.

And btw, it was only recently that I learnt that an airplane could also
be landed by looking out the window. A good pilot friend told me that
he routinely landed by purely visual references! Until then, I was
under the belief that nobody sensible could afford to take his eyes off
the instruments in a phase of flight as critical as the final. That's
probably because I can't perceive airspeed

Ramapriya