The Instrument you can live without

If you were about to go on an IFR flight, and for some unknown,
hypothetical reason you had to pick one instrument in the standard six
pack that you could not use, which one would it be?

--
Chris W

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"Chris W" wrote in message
news:mKx0f.117$%42.106@okepread06...
If you were about to go on an IFR flight, and for some unknown,
hypothetical reason you had to pick one instrument in the standard six
pack that you could not use, which one would it be?

The DG. Mag compass (not to mention GPS) can be uesd as a backup. If wings
are level and the compass isn't moving, I'm ok on direction and bank.

Michael

"Chris W" wrote in message
news:mKx0f.117$%42.106@okepread06...

If you were about to go on an IFR flight, and for some unknown,
hypothetical reason you had to pick one instrument in the standard six
pack that you could not use, which one would it be?


VSI

In article . net,
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Chris W" wrote in message
news:mKx0f.117$%42.106@okepread06...

If you were about to go on an IFR flight, and for some unknown,
hypothetical reason you had to pick one instrument in the standard six
pack that you could not use, which one would it be?


VSI


I second that. The altimeter is more than adequate as a backup for the
VSI. And when you're trying to damp out phugoid oscillations the
altimeter is actually better than the VSI for judging ascent/descent
because the VSI lags.

rg

The VSI only lags in giving a RATE of climb/descent. In smooth air, or
smooth pilot inputs, the VSI will give nearly immediate response up or
down.
I could live without the VSI, or the AI, or DG, and make do with the
rest of them and do a decent approach. I began teaching what I call
"Primitive Panel" over 30 years ago with a loss of gyros, then taking
away the Turn/Slip, the VSI, and leaving the student with little to
work with. They can do fine if they use their heads. Too many times in
over a thousand hours of actual IFR I've seen gyros fail as well as
other instruments and you had to extrapolate all the available
information. So far so good......
Ol Shy & Bashful

wrote:

I could live without the VSI, or the AI, or DG, and make do with the
rest of them and do a decent approach. I began teaching what I call
"Primitive Panel" over 30 years ago with a loss of gyros, then taking
away the Turn/Slip, the VSI, and leaving the student with little to
work with. They can do fine if they use their heads. Too many times in

During my IFR instruction my CFII allowed me to see the AI maybe one
out of ten hours. It actually felt weird when he let me see it. I could
take it or leave it for the most part until we get into unusual
attitudes. I'd like to think I could keep my grip long enough to figure
it out partial panel, but I know I can make sense of the situation a
lot faster with an AI.

-cwk.

wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:

During my IFR instruction my CFII allowed me to see the AI maybe one
out of ten hours. It actually felt weird when he let me see it. I could
take it or leave it for the most part until we get into unusual
attitudes. I'd like to think I could keep my grip long enough to figure
it out partial panel, but I know I can make sense of the situation a
lot faster with an AI.

-cwk.


Hmmm,
I was taught to initially only use the ASI & TC to get to straight & level
from an upset/unusual attitude. Was I taught wrong?

Marty

I began teaching what I call
"Primitive Panel" over 30 years ago with a loss of gyros, then taking
away the Turn/Slip, the VSI, and leaving the student with little to
work with. They can do fine if they use their heads.

A couple of years ago,a high-time pilot who, according to reports,
emphasized partial panel work, took off from TEB and soon killed
himself and family in a Bonanza. Apparently a gyro failure.

Have you any words of explanation to offer, or do you know what the
accident report said?

I practice partial panel regularly, but accidents like that worry me;
if that guy couldn't hack it, could I?

vince norris

vincent p. norris wrote:

A couple of years ago,a high-time pilot who, according to reports,
emphasized partial panel work, took off from TEB and soon killed
himself and family in a Bonanza. Apparently a gyro failure.

The only Bonanza accident at TEB that I remember in the last 5 years or so
involved a doctor who was taking proscribed medication and had been for some
time. After the failure, he couldn't seem to follow ATC's instructions -- just
kept repeating that he was in trouble. Wound up putting it into an urban area
and killing a few people on the ground.

If that's the one you're thinking of, it wouldn't be a good case for arguing a
stand on any partial panel situation. Seems to me the most important instrument
that failed was the pilot's brain, and that had been running on partial panel
for years.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

vincent p. norris wrote:

A couple of years ago,a high-time pilot who, according to reports,
emphasized partial panel work, took off from TEB and soon killed
himself and family in a Bonanza. Apparently a gyro failure.

Have you any words of explanation to offer, or do you know what the
accident report said?

The problem with a gyro failure isn't flying the plane without your gyro
instruments, but recognizing the failure in the first place. I would
guess that most crashes caused by failed gyros were because the pilot
didn't recognize the failure.

A failed gyro can be very difficult to detect. I've done it in a
simulator and didn't notice for a several minutes. For people who focus
too much on the AI, it's especially bad because they can end up putting
the plane in an unusual attitude very quickly.


-m
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