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:

• When a pilot loses critical gyro instruments like the attitude and heading indicators during an IFR flight and faces limited visibility, ATC can provide a vital "no-gyro vector" for navigation.
• This procedure involves the pilot executing standard rate turns solely based on ATC's "turn left/right" instructions using the turn coordinator, while ATC monitors the aircraft's radar track and issues "stop turn" commands to align them.
• Requiring close ATC-pilot teamwork, no-gyro vectors are an essential safety tool, and pilots are encouraged to practice requesting them to build familiarity for real-world emergencies.

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

See a mistake? Contact us.