Prepare for: Partial Panel and Loss of Primary Instruments
Flying and approaching with failed attitude or heading indicators.
Your CFI's syllabus and your airplane's POH come first. This page is a general study aid to help you show up prepared.
What you'll do
- Recognize the failure early by cross-checking all instruments.
- Cover the failed instrument so it can't mislead you.
- Use the remaining instruments: turn coordinator, altimeter, airspeed, compass, and backups.
- Use timed or compass turns and expect compass errors (UNOS/ANDS).
The standard you'll be held to
Quoted from the current FAA Airman Certification Standards for each level that tests this.
Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C)Task IR.VII.D · Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instrument Indicators
- Advise ATC or the evaluator if unable to comply with a clearance.
- Complete a non-precision instrument approach without the use of the primary flight instruments using the skill elements of the non-precision approach Task (see Area of Operation VI, Task A).
- Use single-pilot resource management (SRM) or crew resource management (CRM), as appropriate.
Read it in the FAA handbooks
The official chapters behind this page. Each link opens the exact chapter, free on faa.gov. See the full Study Library.
Prepare the night before
- Practice compass turns.
- Review gyroscopic instruments in the instruments lesson.
Common mistakes
- Missing the failure because it fails slowly.
- Over-controlling.
Questions to ask your instructor
- How will you fail my instruments?
- What backup instruments does this airplane have?
Related lessons
Check yourself
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