Wizard of Draws wrote:
I knew I was coming back, but I was resolved to only have to retest
the partial panel.

It's a bummer that you failed, but don't sweat it. The instrument
rating is about the hardest thing you'll ever do in your life, and lots
of people don't pass it on the first try. I didn't.

Here's a method I learned a while ago for partial panel flying that
works really well. This only works if you are flying towards the
navaid, i.e. a localizer/ILS, or a terminal VOR approach. Andrew
Sarangan may not like it, becuase it uses the CDI as a "fly-left,
fly-right" indicator :-)

Once you are established on the course, just watch the CDI. If the CDI
needle is not moving, or if it's moving but it's moving back towards the
center, DO NOTHING. Just hold zero rate of turn on the TC and wait. If
the CDI needle stays sill, great. If it starts to move back in towards
the center, even better.

If the CDI needle is deflected to the left (i.e. a "fly left"
indication), and moving more to the left, start a half rate standard
turn to the left. Keep turning left until the needle stops moving.
Don't try to center the needle, just get it to stop moving.

Likewise, if the needle is deflected to the right and moving more to the
right, start a half standard rate turn to the right, and keep turning
until the needle stops moving.

Don't ever waste any effort trying to get the needle centered, just get
it to stop moving. If you fly a localizer a constant 2 dots one side of
course or the other all the way to the MAP, you'll find the runway just
as surely as you will if you've got the needle centered.

The trick is to never exceed half standard rate turns. If you try to
make full rate turns, you'll be doing wild S-turns on both sides of the
course. Keeping it half rate keeps the excursions small enough that you
just get on the course and hold it. If you've ever done a no-gyros ASR,
you'll recognize the technique; it's basicly what the radar controller
tells you to do as he talks you down the final approach course.

Likewise, this only works going towards the navaid. If you keep a
constant CDI deflection going towards the navaid, your lateral
cross-track error keeps getting smaller and smaller. Going away from
the navaid, it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

The other interesting thing to notice is that nowhere in the description
of how it works do you need to know what your heading is! Most people
don't believe this works until I prove it to them. I cover the DG and
let them make timed compass turns in response to ATC vectors to get them
on final. Then I cover up the compass and after they get done wetting
their pants and get down to following the needle as described above,
they usually end up flying the best damn partial panel ILS they've ever
flown.

Make no mistake about it, it's fun to practice silly things like partial
panel non-precision approaches (I could fly a pretty mean p/p NDB at one
time, long ago) but it's not the thing to do if you lose your gyros in
real life. If that happens to you in real life, you should try the
following in order:

1) Get no-gyro vectors to the nearest VFR airport.

2) Get no-gyro vectors to a no-gyro ASR approach (you really should seek
out and practice this one or twice on an IPC so you know what it's like
ahead of time).

3) Get no-gyro vectors to an ILS.

Never gotten no-gyro vectors? Talk to your local approach control guys
to find out what it's all about ("start turn", "stop turn"), then go out
and practice it.