No-Gyro Vectors

Uh oh! Halfway through an IFR cross country flight, it appears your instrument panel has suffered a couple deaths in the family: the attitude indicator, and the heading indicator. A glance at the suction gauge shows none. To top it off, you left your handheld GPS back in the car. Youre in VMC right now, but theres instrument weather down the road to your destination. A look at your charts shows a decent-sized airport about twenty miles off your right wing that probably has an A&P mechanic. Better to put it down now than get into some clouds without knowing which ways up. Unfortunately, a scattered cloud deck below is making it hard to pick out any landmarks. Not a good day.

Key Takeaways:

• The article details an emergency procedure, the "no-gyro vector," used when a pilot loses critical instruments like attitude and heading indicators.
• This ATC service guides the aircraft by having the pilot execute standard rate turns based on radar instructions, relying solely on the turn coordinator.
• The no-gyro vector requires precise communication and teamwork between the pilot and Air Traffic Control for successful navigation.
• Pilots are encouraged to practice requesting no-gyro vectors on routine flights to be prepared for actual emergencies.

Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->

See a mistake? Contact us.