Whew - ASI died in flight

When I bought my Mooney the first fuel stop on my way home I departed
some remote airport in Texas and the ASI stuck at 50mph (not flying
speed) and then went down to zero. I was seconds away from enter the
clouds. I decided to use the 295 to turn back to land at 400 feet.
Seemed safer in that flat part of the country vs. enter IMC (I had a
clearance void time but wouldn't get radar contact for some time).

-Robert


Marc CYBW wrote:
Had my first "incident" in flying after some 175 hours in 172s mostly but
also Warriors and Arrows.

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 16:43:05 GMT, "Marc CYBW"
wrote:

Had my first "incident" in flying after some 175 hours in 172s mostly but
also Warriors and Arrows.

After 4 hours dual and solo learning how to fly my new fractional
ownership 182S, I decided I needed some solo practice and went out for an
hour of flying the circuit. Started my takeoff run and did the usual checks
(power, engine, airspeed) and after I got up to a little over 50 KIAS,
noticed that the plane wanted to fly off. Odd I thought, seemed a little
low, but up we went and once off the ground (maybe 50') noticed the ASI
going DOWN from 50 to 40 to 30 to ZERO. Great - 4 hours into a plane I have
just learned to land and no ASI.

Fortunately the tower (CYBW) was most helpful and called out my ground speed
(no wind today thank goodness) and I carefully stabilized my full flaps
descent at 60 Kts (by the Tower) and landed uneventfully.

Looks like a bug in the pitot tube was just far enough in that I did not
notice it on my pre-flight but the forward motion forced it to completely
block the airflow.

Certainly caught my attention!


Get some dual covering various instruments until you are really
comfortable not needing them. Someone posted they had to do this
before solo, and I totally agree with this approach. Also good to do
on a BFR. I'll probably get flamed for this, but looking inside to
solve a problem when everything you need is available out the window
is completely beyond me. Trim wheels from one airplane to another can
have different indicator positions for the same trim condition, and
(as someone else also said) depending on the loading what you think is
right could be very wrong when only looking at the wheel inside
instead of looking at the flight attitude of the airplane by seeing
the position of the wings and nose relative to the horizon.

With 175 hours I can understand this would get your attention
especially being low time in make and model, and I'm glad it all
worked out well. Do yourself a favor though, and use this experience
to understand what you learn for your private are Minimums. Go find a
good instructor to teach you how to fly VFR without needing any inside
references. It sounds like you spend more time inside than out, and
the fact that you were looking at the VSI 50' off the ground is
disturbing to me.

Good luck!
z

zatatime wrote:
With 175 hours I can understand this would get your attention
especially being low time in make and model, and I'm glad it all
worked out well. Do yourself a favor though, and use this experience
to understand what you learn for your private are Minimums. Go find a
good instructor to teach you how to fly VFR without needing any inside
references. It sounds like you spend more time inside than out, and
the fact that you were looking at the VSI 50' off the ground is
disturbing to me.

I think flying VFR w/o instruments is a great exercise, and agree about
looking outside.

But I don't see what's disturbing about what he said, and nothing
indicated that he's spending "more time inside than out". He didn't say
he was looking at the VSI, he said: "[...] and once off the ground
(maybe 50') noticed the ASI going DOWN from 50 to 40 to 30 to ZERO." He
guesstimated his altitude as he noticed the ASI going back down to zero.
It is possible to take off, climb out, watch where you are going
(outside), and still check instruments.

I can't speak for anyone else's training, but I was *taught* to make
quick visual checks of instruments during takeoff and climb-out.
Obviously "FLY THE AIRPLANE" is the first priority, but if the ASI fails
and you are in the air, as long as the airplane still feels, looks,
sounds and is flying the way it normally does, what's wrong with a
*brief* visual check of other instruments? Why is eliminating an ENTIRE
set of tools from the toolbox just because one isn't working the best
action to take in the situation he described?

I want as much information as is available in order to make ongoing,
in-flight decisions if one instrument fails. If something is wrong or
"disturbing" about this thinking, please tell me what it is.

On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 08:29:24 -0700, unicate
wrote:

zatatime wrote:
With 175 hours I can understand this would get your attention
especially being low time in make and model, and I'm glad it all
worked out well. Do yourself a favor though, and use this experience
to understand what you learn for your private are Minimums. Go find a
good instructor to teach you how to fly VFR without needing any inside
references. It sounds like you spend more time inside than out, and
the fact that you were looking at the VSI 50' off the ground is
disturbing to me.

I think flying VFR w/o instruments is a great exercise, and agree about
looking outside.

But I don't see what's disturbing about what he said, and nothing
indicated that he's spending "more time inside than out". He didn't say
he was looking at the VSI, he said: "[...] and once off the ground
(maybe 50') noticed the ASI going DOWN from 50 to 40 to 30 to ZERO." He
guesstimated his altitude as he noticed the ASI going back down to zero.
It is possible to take off, climb out, watch where you are going
(outside), and still check instruments.

I can't speak for anyone else's training, but I was *taught* to make
quick visual checks of instruments during takeoff and climb-out.
Obviously "FLY THE AIRPLANE" is the first priority, but if the ASI fails
and you are in the air, as long as the airplane still feels, looks,
sounds and is flying the way it normally does, what's wrong with a
*brief* visual check of other instruments? Why is eliminating an ENTIRE
set of tools from the toolbox just because one isn't working the best
action to take in the situation he described?

I want as much information as is available in order to make ongoing,
in-flight decisions if one instrument fails. If something is wrong or
"disturbing" about this thinking, please tell me what it is.


I was going to change "disturbing" to something else, but couldn't
think of a different word quickly so I posted it. Probably a little
strong, especially since when I re-read the OP it said ASI not VSI. I
made a mistake and read VSI when ASI was posted. I also take a quick
gander at the ASI during takeoff.

The main point is to learn to fly outside the airplane. Too many
people I come across don't do this and I believe it makes a safer
pilot. I think besides my mis-read and hard word we are in agreement.

z

On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 10:04:51 -0400, zatatime wrote:

It sounds like you spend more time inside than out, and
the fact that you were looking at the VSI 50' off the ground is
disturbing to me.

Why?

Original poster didn't give his airport. Maybe he was doing a short field
takeoff?

In otherwords, lets not assume that he didn't have to try to get Vx speed
to get out.

He did say he was doing some solo practice which doesn't necessarily
warrant a normal takeoff..

Allen

On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 10:58:00 -0500, A Lieberman
wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 10:04:51 -0400, zatatime wrote:

It sounds like you spend more time inside than out, and
the fact that you were looking at the VSI 50' off the ground is
disturbing to me.

Why?

See my other post. I read VSI when ASI was stated by the OP.

Original poster didn't give his airport. Maybe he was doing a short field
takeoff?
He did give his airport, (CYBW) which has a control tower that gave
him GS info.

In otherwords, lets not assume that he didn't have to try to get Vx speed
to get out.
Given the fact he was at a towered field, I belive I made a safe
assumption.

z

zatatime wrote:

Get some dual covering various instruments until you are really
comfortable not needing them. Someone posted they had to do this
before solo, and I totally agree with this approach.

I think it may be part of the Jeppesen air work syllabus. I seem to
remember my CFI checking things off in my little lesson flip book while
he covered my instruments. Sometimes, he even did it while I was under
the hood.

When my DE did it, his Post-Its kept falling off. I was proud of my
no-instrument comfort, so I loaned him _my_ Sporty's failed instrument
covers so we could complete the task.

The bottom line was that I was taught that if we're missing one number,
such as airspeed, there are others to help, such as RPM and vertical
speed. Straight and level at a given setup will always equal the
missing data. Once you're stabilized, other procedures, like approach
and landing should simply snap together.

Marc CYBW wrote:
Had my first "incident" in flying after some 175 hours in 172s mostly but
also Warriors and Arrows.

After 4 hours dual and solo learning how to fly my new fractional
ownership 182S, I decided I needed some solo practice and went out for an
hour of flying the circuit. Started my takeoff run and did the usual checks
(power, engine, airspeed) and after I got up to a little over 50 KIAS,
noticed that the plane wanted to fly off. Odd I thought, seemed a little
low, but up we went and once off the ground (maybe 50') noticed the ASI
going DOWN from 50 to 40 to 30 to ZERO. Great - 4 hours into a plane I have
just learned to land and no ASI.

Fortunately the tower (CYBW) was most helpful and called out my ground speed
(no wind today thank goodness) and I carefully stabilized my full flaps
descent at 60 Kts (by the Tower) and landed uneventfully.

Looks like a bug in the pitot tube was just far enough in that I did not
notice it on my pre-flight but the forward motion forced it to completely
block the airflow.

Certainly caught my attention!





--

If that's the worst thing that ever happens to you - you are a lucky
guy.
I flew four legs the other day with a failing ASI. You learn to know
your airplane.

chixfly2 wrote:
Marc CYBW wrote:

Had my first "incident" in flying after some 175 hours in 172s mostly but
also Warriors and Arrows.

After 4 hours dual and solo learning how to fly my new fractional
ownership 182S, I decided I needed some solo practice and went out for an
hour of flying the circuit. Started my takeoff run and did the usual checks
(power, engine, airspeed) and after I got up to a little over 50 KIAS,
noticed that the plane wanted to fly off. Odd I thought, seemed a little
low, but up we went and once off the ground (maybe 50') noticed the ASI
going DOWN from 50 to 40 to 30 to ZERO. Great - 4 hours into a plane I have
just learned to land and no ASI.

Fortunately the tower (CYBW) was most helpful and called out my ground speed
(no wind today thank goodness) and I carefully stabilized my full flaps
descent at 60 Kts (by the Tower) and landed uneventfully.

Looks like a bug in the pitot tube was just far enough in that I did not
notice it on my pre-flight but the forward motion forced it to completely
block the airflow.

Certainly caught my attention!

How about a tach needle that begins to spin at engine RPM's. Like so
fast you cant see the needle. No big problem, just fly the rest of the
trip by feel unless its a new plane you haven't flown before
Rocky

How about a tach needle that begins to spin at engine RPM's. Like so
fast you cant see the needle. No big problem, just fly the rest of the
trip by feel unless its a new plane you haven't flown before
Rocky


LOL!
I have had that happen also.
Started making a weird noise and then just started roaming.