Big John wrote:
Sidney - just think out of the box
Take AI out of panel leaving hooked up. With power (air/electric)
applied rotate the instrument through all attitudes and see if it
tumbles and where. If it does not meet specs go get your money back.

I don't know, Big John. I still want my turn coordinator left
in my primary scan area. Call me old-fashioned, call me a stick
in the mud, don't call me too late for dinner.

Here's a link to the original post:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z27312245

The part about the Safety Board conclusion that an R/C plane was
involved is at the bottom of the post. But the whole post IMO is
very well worth reading.

I fly R/C and doubt if any collision took place. Never heard of it in
AMA magazine and something like that would be a high profile story for
risk of lives and insurance problems.

FWIW, this didn't happen in the US. Australia I think.

Whether or not it was an R/C plane is really a moot point. It
could have easily been a large bird (no feathers or blood though).
IIRC an R/C guy in the vicinity of the collision admitted he
lost contact w/ his plane when it flew into cloud.

The point is, one minute the guy was flying along VMC over a layer,
next minute WHUMP! pilot window and right rear window blown out,
pilot's headset thrown into baggage, plane flipped inverted and
dropped into IMC. Vacuum gyros tumbled, pitot-static instruments
unreliable.

Pilot saved his butt using T/C, tach, and stall warning.

So I'm not exiling my T/C or tach to Siberia on the right side of
my panel to make way for an electric horizon which might or might
not save my soup partial panel, accident record seems mixed on
this point (see for example King Air and Bandierante accident
described earlier in thread)

IMO both the T/C and the tach have proven value, both in daily
flying, partial panel, and in plausible emergencies. I want 'em
where I can see 'em, right in the primary scan.

Cheers,
Sydney