Mike

As they say, "Train for the worst. Hope for the best".

Big John

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 02:38:51 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:

I have also had a gyro fail (in a Turbo Lance that had only one AI) in IMC
flight along with an partial electrical failure (lost the alternator) and
managed to get to my destination after shooting a localizer approach to
pretty much minimiums with a Garmin 12XL that I had to program the approach
waypoints into while flying partial panel AND it was in freezing rain. No
****, this really happened. Every emergency I have ever had was on that one
flight which happened to be my first serious IFR flight after getting the IR
(accross the Sierra From Minden to San Jose in a major blizzard)

That experience doesn't convince me that there are not plenty of senarios
where it wouldn't have had a happy ending.

Mike
MU-2


"Michael" wrote in message
. com...
"Mike Rapoport" wrote
True but I would assume that they thought that they had given the
subject
adequate consideration. It is arogant to believe that everyone else is
a
fool and you are not. My fovorite ezample are those pilots who are
confident that they could handle an IMC gyro failure when the record
shows
that many (most?) cannot.

Yeah, I've heard that song before. Even believed it. Then I had my
AI tumble. At night. In IMC. On the climbout. While being
rerouted. In spite of what everyone told me, it was a complete
non-event. Used the copilot side AI for a while, but quickly decided
it was too much hassle, and flying partial panel was easier. Since I
still had the copilot side AI, I was legal to continue the flight -
and I did. Shot the NDB at my destination, but the weather was crap
and the runway lights were inop, so I couldn't get in. Wound up
shooting the ILS to near mins in the rain at my alternate. No big
deal. Gyro failure is not a big deal if you train properly. I could
even argue that without the backup AI, I would have been safer that
night because I would have had to turn back and land.

On the other hand, an engine failure in a single engine airplane under
the same conditions would have been very, very ugly.

Michael