You are flying along and your airspeed indicator fails

[midlifeflyer]

Pitch for airspeed, power for altitude.

Done.

I teach this to primary students from the very first lesson., even on discovery flights. And I won't solo a student until she has landed with the ASI covered and regularly do the same for FRs.

If you don't know the pitch attitude and power setting that gives you level flight at various airspeeds from cruise to pattern, climbs and descents, especially for landing, get the heck up in your airplane and learn them. (Actually, based on my experience pulling this on pilots during flight reviews and checkouts and the time it was first pulled on me, you probably already know them and would do just fine)

 

[EdFred]

The inside wing is more stalled than the outside wing but it' still moving forward. Tailsides are known to ram control surfaces hard against the stops and bend or break stuff. Dangerous for the guy with no training in such maneuvers.

Much better to use the usual power settings and watch the altimeter and VSI for excessive sink, which indicates low airspeed.

When I learned, and later taught, we sometimes covered various instruments including the ASI. When I had only about 70 hours I had a dead airspeed in a 150, and it was no big deal.

VFR should be fine. In IMC it's much more difficult.

Being serious, I was not.

 

[N801BH]

I had a great instructor 35 years ago... At about the 10 hour mark into basic training, he would pull out a dog food can plastic lid and cover the ASI and I learned to fly by feel, sound and control feedback.... To this day I don't care if I lose airspeed info.... Just leave the JPI 450 fuel flow thingie working as that is the only gauge I consider critical... IMHO... YMMV.

 

[MikeELP]

You are at altitude 20 min from your destination (uncontrolled 4k ft runway) and it is Texas so one of those rogue plastic grocery bags has caught some lift and managed to get snagged on your pitot tube..............

.........Tomorrow is my BFR and just for grins after, I am going up w/ the CISP to do a bunch of slow flight, stalls at various attitudes and kind of play with that envelope a bit.

What do you do?

Flight Reviews are what you make of them. Sounds like you just came up with a great exercise for yours.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Well would you look at that.
I was too new to realize what he was doing at the time but I dug up the video from my 4th or 5th lesson and he had covered everything.

I was still so green I wasn't sure how the instruments worked at the time so I wasn't really sure what all I had lost.

This was an early lesson in a 172 in Gainesville TX.

 

[brcase]

I do it frequently from the back seat of a taildragger...I'm still here.

Did this yesterday, big guy in the front seat. I have done it enough I could fly the entire pattern and hit the speeds and pattern altitude within PTS standards.


Once skewed a wasp during tow on my glider, rather than pay for another tow, I flew for 2.5 hrs. It messing up the total energy variometer was more challenging than the Airspeed not working. But I had a backup variometer, it just didn't have any audio.

Brian

 

[timwinters]

I know a guy who had the ASI fail in his 182 (I think it was a straight tail). He was flying his plane for his work at the time and flying a lot that summer...for him anyway...30 hours or more per month. As such he didn't have the chance to have the ASI repaired in a timely manner and he flew the plane for a couple of months that way.

He tells me that he learned more about flying that plane during those 60 (or so) hours than he did in his other 1540...

Wish I could remember his name.

<whistles>

 

[nimdabew]

Stick your fist on the dash. Horizon on top of the fist is straight and level with 2200 RPM in a 172. Put the horizon at 2 fists and that is a descent attitude at about 500-700 FPS with 1700 RPM, 85-90 kts. Horizon on top of the dash, full power, 500-900 FPS (altitude dependent) climb. Human beings were flying around before there ever were any of the gizmos and gadgets we have now.

 

[Jim Logajan]

I got my tailwheel endorsement in a twitchy little C-150 tail dragged with a broken airspeed indicator. It was great training. Feel the airplane, fly the airplane. Pretty simple.

I'm sure it was working because otherwise you'd have been flying in violation of CFR 91.205, and that seems unlikely.

 

[Brad Z]

You also might try melting that bag off with pitot heat, if you still have a pitot tube.

LOL, that ws going to be my answer too!

That would be a HUGE towel.

...and that too. I need to get to these threads quicker before all the witty comments have been used up and the only thing left to do is answer the OP's question.

Like others said, once you get a feel for the controls, you won't be as worried about getting too slow. Cirrus aircraft are a little trickier since they have the spring loaded controls and you don't feel the control forces lightening as you get close to stall. Alternatively, the plane does buffet considerably before stall so as long as you can sense the buffet, fly the specific power and pitch for the approach, you'll be fine. No reason not to fly a normal pattern.

It's really easy if you happen to still have a functioning AoA indicator.

 

[MAKG1]

I've always wondered about the obsession with specific speeds at specific points in the pattern anyway. As the coat-over-the-panel exercises demonstrate, speeds obviously aren't critical. Repeatability?

I can see wanting to climb out at, say, Vy. And you probably don't want to stall before you're ready, and for some airplanes coming in too fast means a looooong float. But other than that, what's it matter?

Let's say you're flying a plane you're NOT familiar with (bringing it home for a friend or something). Seems like if you lost your ASI, you could do some slow flight on the way home, figure out what the RPM/MP settings and attitudes were, and then just do that on final and land. Should be relatively easy to figure out, even if you don't already know what the numbers are.

Slow flight will give you a much too high power setting. You should know the numbers. There isn't that much variation.

 

[EdFred]

Slow flight will give you a much too high power setting. You should know the numbers. There isn't that much variation.

It doesn't have to. Especially if simulating the pattern.

 

[luvflyin]

Flight Reviews are what you make of them. Sounds like you just came up with a great exercise for yours.

Reading all these replies I realize I was undertrained. I just may not wait until two years go by, find a CFI who knows this stuff and reset the clock early.

 

[flyingron]

I've never found that Pitot Heat has ever helped clear a bug blockage. It's always been required to blow it out.

 

[Bonchie]

4000 feet is plenty of runway to come in fast, burn it off, and land.

Now if it were 2000 feet with trees, it'd be tougher I think.

 

[VictorValencia]

I recommend going up with an instructor and covering up the airspeed indicator
and then land 10 times in a row without it. You'll quickly learn that if
the nose is pointed down towards the spot on the runway where you want to touch
down the plane will not stall if you're correctly using power to control your
descent.

 

[txflyer]

" how did you people survive the first Winter? " -- American Indian buddy of mine

 

[midlifeflyer]

4000 feet is plenty of runway to come in fast, burn it off, and land.

Now if it were 2000 feet with trees, it'd be tougher I think.

It should not make any difference. Really. Try it some time (perhaps with a CFI).

In my experience, the only people who think it is difficult is those who have never done it.

I'll describe my first time. It was a checkout in a Tiger. For those unfamiliar, the Tiger is known as a particularly slippery airplane - its wing was designed by LoPresti, the same guy who designed the Mooney wing. Like the Mooney, it's one of those airplanes really needs to be on the proper airspeed for a good landing. Floating long is a problem area in transitions.

Like the make/model, the airport itself was new-to-me. The very first time I'd been there.

We went to the practice area for maneuvers and another airport where I did one landing. Then returned for some touch & goes. After two landings, on downwind, my CFI took out his newspaper, unfolded it, and covered the panel. When I gave him my best WTF look, he just smiled.

So I continued. Incremental reduction of airspeed and deployment of flaps abeam, on base, and on final. Same power settings as the 3 other landings. Same view out the front window (known as the visual attitude indicator).

On short final, stabilized, just before the flare, he said, "Let's take a look" and pulled the newspaper away to see how close I came to target. On-airspeed, no different than if I had a full panel of instruments.

It wasn't me being particularly good. I've been doing it to students ever since. Pre-solo student pilots. Experience pilots doing flight reviews. Transition training. So far, every one of them has been on-airspeed when uncovering the ASI on short final.

 

[midlifeflyer]

" how did you people survive the first Winter? " -- American Indian buddy of mine

 

[DesertNomad]

Curious about the different answers.
I know there are pilots that can feel their way to the ground but it is not something that is specifically taught.

Really? I had to do a lap around the pattern (takeoff to landing) with a bath towel draped over the entire panel. I had the airspeed indicator fail for real on a solo flight and just returned to the airport and landed. I landed a bit fast, but probably only by 5kts.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Welp. BFR complete. Got the sign off.
2 hours of stall recoveries at my request.

The ground portion was 2 hours too.
More questions than the ppl oral.

This CISP takes BFRs very seriously.

 

[Bill]

Mooney dirty, a skitch less than full nose up trim gives 65kts, control the throttle to the numbers. Done.

 

[Pilawt]

I had an ASI quit once, about 25 years ago, in a 172 that fortunately I was (and still am) very familiar with. Bugs in the system; somehow the little varmints must have shifted around in flight, waiting to mess it up until I was already on top of an overcast and the sun was going down. It resulted in a localizer back-course approach to minimums at night with no ASI.

I do not want to do that again, thankyouverymuch.

 

[txflyer]

Welp. BFR complete. Got the sign off.
2 hours of stall recoveries at my request.

The ground portion was 2 hours too.
More questions than the ppl oral.

This CISP takes BFRs very seriously.

Good God.

My CFI just moved to Oregon so if I get someone like this I'm probably going to fail.

Which brings up a question I've never seen here. What if you flunk a BFR? What then?

 

[EdFred]

Good God.

My CFI just moved to Oregon so if I get someone like this I'm probably going to fail.

Which brings up a question I've never seen here. What if you flunk a BFR? What then?

With me, I'd tell you I'm not signing you off. We can have another lesson (or as many as are necessary) until I am satisfied with what I see.

 

[txflyer]

With me, I'd tell you I'm not signing you off. We can have another lesson (or as many as are necessary) until I am satisfied with what I see.

So if I can't answer two hours of questions but I can fly the **** out of my airplane, will you pass me?

 

[chemgeek]

Power plus pitch = performance. If you know your power numbers losing the A/S should not be an emergency. Set the proper power and attitude and you will know your airspeed. IFR rated pilots will normally already know the "numbers".

 

[PilotRPI]

I had my AI fail in a Citabria. It failed in a really weird fashion. It increased normally during the takeoff roll, then when climbing out, it slowly dropped to almost nothing. The engine was making normal power, and the nose was lower than usual, so I knew something was up. It went up to 90 mph or so on downwind, then wouldn't come back down.

I flew the airplane just by feel. I was surprised now naturally I could tell if the plane was too fast, or if it didn't have enough energy by how the controls felt and the approach angle. I made two of my best landings in that plane that day, and even had people complementing me without them knowing I lost my AI. It was a great confidence builder.

I am not a high time pilot. Only had about 250 hours total and 30-40 in type.

 

[gismo]

I've landed my Baron without a working ASI twice. Once in winter when the pitot heat failed in flight and once when a really unlucky bug got nailed (there were lots of bugs in the air, enough to make the windshield hard to see through).

Both times were non-events. If you have GPS and a reasonable estimate of windspeed you can use GS. And in my case I have AoA which makes holding an optimal airspeed on final a piece of cake whether or not the ASI is working.

 

[gprellwitz]

I was flying from Chicago to Connecticut one day in a 182, and noticed the ASI seemed a little sluggish on takeoff. Everything else felt normal, though, so I continued. Everything is fine until, over the middle of Lake Erie, the ASI is reading 0. Being pretty sure I wasn't plummeting to the earth in a spin or something, I merely continued to my destination. I figured why stop short, when it isn't affecting the flying and I need to land with an inop ASI in any case? I landed (without difficulty, but watching the ground speed on the GPS just for confirmation) and called the Mx guys from the hotel room to have them clear out the pitot tube.

 

[jordane93]

With me, I'd tell you I'm not signing you off. We can have another lesson (or as many as are necessary) until I am satisfied with what I see.

This. If you are a PP, I expect PP standards. If you are a CP, I expect and hold you to CP standards.

 

[EdFred]

So if I can't answer two hours of questions but I can fly the **** out of my airplane, will you pass me?

Nope.

 

[Skip Miller]

Which brings up a question I've never seen here. What if you flunk a BFR? What then?

You can't "flunk" a BFR. Note the regs do not list a maximum time for ground or flight time for the BFR. You keep taking ground or air lessons until you pass or until your money runs out.

 

[sourdough44]

Put that towel over the panel and press on.

 

[MAKG1]

Reading all these replies I realize I was undertrained. I just may not wait until two years go by, find a CFI who knows this stuff and reset the clock early.

You could do that, and it wouldn't hurt.

But there is a lot of stuff on a BFR that you won't need just to try this particular stuff out with.

You could call it a WINGS task if you want.

There are a few nonstandard things I think every private pilot should try out. Like, falling leaf stalls, the dead ASI as mentioned, high density altitude ops, engine failures to landing from cruise, and short/narrow fields (real ones -- anything longer than 2000 feet is not short unless the density altitude is high).

 

[bflynn]

Slow down until you get a stall chirp then lower the nose a little and maintain that configuration.

I have an angle of attack meter so it's academic. ASI is useless on very slow STOL approaches anyway ....

This. You can go to altitude, get in landing configuration, trim for slow flight and find your stall point = stall speed. Then trim nose down a couple of turns and you'll be 10-15 kts over stall speed, which should be a good approach speed.

Well really, you ought to be able to judge speed by power setting and the feel of the controls. In a 172, power->2000 and trim for level flight is about 80 kts. I usually need a little bit of nose up trim on final, but it isn't strictly necessary.

And of course there's always trial and error. If you get down on the runway and you're going way too fast, go faster and fly away, nobody ever collided with the air. The go trim for a lower speed and do it again.

 

[guardrail]

My instructor used to block out the guages frequently. He would always say the most important gauge is your eyes looking out the window, the rest is for quick verification. Once you know the plane you should be able to see, feel and hear the pattern requirements.

 

[midlifeflyer]

My instructor used to block out the guages frequently. He would always say the most important gauge is your eyes looking out the window, the rest is for quick verification. Once you know the plane you should be able to see, feel and hear the pattern requirements.

You had a very good instructor.

 

[guardrail]

You had a very good instructor.

I hope to do my IFR training with him, he was really very good. Old retired Navy pilot that really enjoyed flying/instructing into retirement. I wish everyone is lucky enough to fly with someone who really lives and breathes the craft, you learn an immense amount.

 

[N801BH]

You could do that, and it wouldn't hurt.

But there is a lot of stuff on a BFR that you won't need just to try this particular stuff out with.

You could call it a WINGS task if you want.

There are a few nonstandard things I think every private pilot should try out. Like, falling leaf stalls, the dead ASI as mentioned, high density altitude ops, engine failures to landing from cruise, and short/narrow fields (real ones -- anything longer than 2000 feet is not short unless the density altitude is high).

Agreed 100%.... Nothing teaches pilots like the real thing...