Flying_Monkey
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2014
- Messages
- 3,025
- Reaction score
- 1,419
I was reading another thread and someone commented that he would never fly ifr without a standby vacuum system (something to that effect). Having recently earned my Instrument rating it got me thinking. I was curious what everyone's take on it here is. My plane is well equipped for ifr- 430w, Garmin 106A, dual kx155, adsb out, engine monitor, stratus 2 and iPad mini with backup iPad 2, backup handheld radio and lots of backup batteries for everything. But I don't have a second source of power for the airplane or a standby vacuum system and am all on steam gauges.
In training we practiced a lot of partial panel work and vacuum loss didn't seem like that huge of a deal to me in simulated conditions. I am smart enough to know the situation would definitely be different in actual IMC or in more difficult conditions like turbulence or rain or icing. Still, I never struggled to maintain a heading, track a course or keep the airplane level with partial panel.
So, what's the consensus from those who fly IFR..? Do you fly without standby vacuum?
In training we practiced a lot of partial panel work and vacuum loss didn't seem like that huge of a deal to me in simulated conditions. I am smart enough to know the situation would definitely be different in actual IMC or in more difficult conditions like turbulence or rain or icing. Still, I never struggled to maintain a heading, track a course or keep the airplane level with partial panel.
So, what's the consensus from those who fly IFR..? Do you fly without standby vacuum?
