The Instrument you can live without

VSI



"Chris W" wrote in message
news:Ftx0f.851$sE3.515@lakeread07...
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" wrote in message
news:Ftx0f.851$sE3.515@lakeread07...
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, no question.

"John Huthmaker" wrote in message
k.net...
I think it was a joke, but I could live without the Hobbs too

It was, and since Rod Machado doesn't post here, I responded accordingly.

"Chris W" wrote in message
news:Faz0f.868$sE3.740@lakeread07...
Brad Zeigler wrote:

Hobbs meter.

I guess I need to be more specific. If, before an IFR flight, you had to
remove one of the instruments in the image linked below, which one would
it be?

http://www.thewishzone.com/aviation/...nstruments.jpg

Other than a compass, and navaid radios you have no other device to
prevent you from impacting the ground unexpectedly. To be even more
clear, you don't have a GPS!

I was kidding. To answer your question, It'd be the VSI, as its legally not
required for instrument flight.

Chris G. wrote:

The AI. In reading the FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, it says you can
derive all of the necessary flight information from the other 5
instruments.

I agree, but the loss of any one of them is not that difficult to deal
with. The real problems start when you lose more than one. And if you
lose the AI, you're probably going to lose the DG too.

Now if you have a GPS, all you need is the the TC. The GPS lags too
much to tell be useful for roll information, but it can be sufficient to
give you everything else. In a pinch. I certainly wouldn't choose to
fly IMC that way, but it might be fun to try under the hood...


-m
--
## Mark T. Dame
## VP, Product Development
## MFM Software, Inc. (http://www.mfm.com/)
"When I'm with you I don't know whether I should study neurosurgery
or go to see the Care Bears Movie."
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Chris W wrote:
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?


Given a choice of an instrument to smash, most students pick the hobbs
meter. The VSI is the usual volunteer however.

Who needs a VSI? Nice to have but not a necessity by any stretch.

That being said, if I had to go without anything else besides
the VSI, I'd next go for the turn coordinator.

Chris W wrote:

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?

Turn coordinator is the LAST one I'd care to give up. Remember needle,
ball, and airspeed practice on your instrument lessons? TC is almost
universally electric, which is an order of magnitude more reliable than the
vacuum pump necessary for the DG and the AI.

Jim


"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Who needs a VSI? Nice to have but not a necessity by any stretch.

That being said, if I had to go without anything else besides
the VSI, I'd next go for the turn coordinator.

Try using the VSI during an approach. It will make life tremendously
easier. I would pick the turn co-ordinator as the redundant instrument
(unless of course you have a vacuum failure).

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
Try using the VSI during an approach. It will make life tremendously
easier. I would pick the turn co-ordinator as the redundant instrument
(unless of course you have a vacuum failure).


How? By setting my approach RPM and MP, I can get very close to the
rate of descent I need. I then fine tune from there to accomodate the
difference between airspeed and ground speed. I almost never look at
the VSI during approaches. Simply no need if you have your power
settings available.


Matt