So that's what they mean by "actual" (vacuum failure in IMC)

When moving to the TC alone I find it helpful to recite: You are in a left turn, correctio.g
You are straight. You are in a right turn, correcting....etc, until you are stable. It helps.
 
Interesting that the poster didn't want to try an ILS without an operating DG but was willing to do a no-gyro nonprecision approach off the GPS. That's contrary to the thinking expressed by the FAA in the Instrument PTS:

"A nonprecision approach without the use of the primary flight instruments/electronic flight instrument display is considered one of the most demanding situations that could be encountered. If applicants can master this situation, they can successfully complete a less difficult precision approach. If an actual approach in IMC becomes necessary without the aid of the primary flight instruments/ electronic flight instrument display, a less difficult precision approach should be requested, if available. Sound judgment would normally dictate such requests."

Of course, the decision to land visually once an airport was sighted was indeed the best alternative. And points 1, 2, and 5 cannot be stressed too much. Points 3 and 4, while of value, should not, however, be taken by anyone to mean that an autopilot is in any way a legitimate substitute for the partial panel (or, for TAA pilots, degraded systems) skills discussed in Point 1.
 
Ron Levy said:
Interesting that the poster didn't want to try an ILS without an operating DG but was willing to do a no-gyro nonprecision approach off the GPS. That's contrary to the thinking expressed by the FAA in the Instrument PTS:

"A nonprecision approach without the use of the primary flight instruments/electronic flight instrument display is considered one of the most demanding situations that could be encountered. If applicants can master this situation, they can successfully complete a less difficult precision approach. If an actual approach in IMC becomes necessary without the aid of the primary flight instruments/ electronic flight instrument display, a less difficult precision approach should be requested, if available. Sound judgment would normally dictate such requests."

Of course, the decision to land visually once an airport was sighted was indeed the best alternative. And points 1, 2, and 5 cannot be stressed too much. Points 3 and 4, while of value, should not, however, be taken by anyone to mean that an autopilot is in any way a legitimate substitute for the partial panel (or, for TAA pilots, degraded systems) skills discussed in Point 1.
Click to expand...

My guess is he didn't think it all the way through.

He had a Garmin 430 (which allows pretty good situational awareness display, including ground track). If he had an S-Tec A/P and the GPSS coupler, the GPS approach becomes as good an L-nav as a localizer. Hopefully, the ILS section of the 430 would also be coupled to the A/P, which would allow the ILS to be flown no=gyro and reduce workload a lot.

I agree, though, that taking the visual once he spied the airport was the best choice.
 
Here's an interesting comment...he says, "Backup vacuum-no help."

How many of us either:

A. Don't properly check the backup systems in our airplane prior to flight, or
B. Don't know HOW to properly check and/or properly operate these systems.

We used to have a Saratoga here with a backup vacuum system that was connected to the intake manifold on the engine. I rode with several pilots who had been checked out in the airplane, and didn't know that:

A. It had to be checked at an EXTREMELY low idle setting, before the engine got up enough rpm for the engine-driven pump to create enough vacuum, or

B. In the event of an engine-driven pump failure, you had to make a large reduction in power (around 5" MP--whatever the green arc in the suction gage is) in order to create adequate vacuum after activating the standby system.

I'm not in any way inferring that this was the case here, but imagine yourself in that vacuum failure in IMC. Wouldn't you be a LOT happier with this system if you had tested it and could make it function in flight, rather than "Backup vacuum-no help"?

I'd definitely add "understanding and checking backup systems" to his list of "Lessons learned" if you got on the ground and your mechanic explained that the reason the standby vacuum didn't work was "pilot error". Been there, done that, don't like the embarrassment.

Fly safe!

David
 
Boy, I feel dumb now. I'm not even sure that the 172 or the warrior that I fly IFR in have a backup vacuum. Guess I better find out. Did I mention that I feel dumb now?
The good thing for me was that the warrior that I did 99% of my IR training in had a really lousy AI that wouldn't quite get back to straight and level after any turns that lasted more than three seconds, so I was almost always flying by the T/C---semi partial panel ( they fixed the AI recently BTW).
 
I am curious as to why he sqawked 7700. As he was flying in IMC he certainly filed IFR and was given a sqawk code. He must have been in contact with ATC. Why not just declare an emergency ATC already knows where and who you are based upon you squawk code.
 
A vacuum failure, ouch. I have a new vacuum pump in my Traveler, but because there is no backup I never fly IMC in that plane. And since the birth of my twin boys I've even cut way back on night flying in my single-engine plane. So, am I a bigger chicken than I need to be?

Walter
 
walterman said:
A vacuum failure, ouch. I have a new vacuum pump in my Traveler, but because there is no backup I never fly IMC in that plane. And since the birth of my twin boys I've even cut way back on night flying in my single-engine plane. So, am I a bigger chicken than I need to be?

Walter
Click to expand...

Depends what you mean by "no backup"...you don't have an electric turn & bank or something? If you do, having backup is simply being proficient in partial panel flying.

As far as the night flying, I know a LOT of people who don't do it. I personally don't have a problem with single-engine night...but then, I don't have kids. Granted, I don't go canyon flying in Idaho at night, or anything like that, but here in the flat midwest it's not a problem for me. Too each his own on that one, I guess.

The important thing is...

Fly safe!

David
 
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