This report covers one student's setup: a Cessna 172 with round gauges in X-Plane 12 on a home simulator. Your aircraft and software will behave differently, and the failures in this session were set up by the instructor for training. For anything touching a real airplane, the FAA-approved flight manual for your aircraft is the final word, and published approach charts change over time.
Colin is an instrument student working toward his checkride, flying a Cessna 172 with round gauges in X-Plane 12 on his home simulator. His instructor is Jordan Gottfried (CFI, CFII, MEI), who played ATC and triggered failures remotely through FSC Link.
The plan was a hand-flown IFR flight with no autopilot:
- Depart Torrance (KTOA) runway 29R, IFR.
- Intercept the LAX VORTAC 170 radial.
- Proceed to the Seal Beach VOR.
- Fly the VOR runway 30 approach into Long Beach (KLGB).
Ice built on the pitot tube in the climb, then on the static port. Then the vacuum pump failed, taking the attitude and heading indicators with it. Colin flew the rest on the magnetic compass, went missed off the VOR 30, and landed off vectors for the ILS 30.
Chapters
- 0:00 Setup, and ForeFlight's debrief on the iPad
- 3:15 Taxi at Torrance and the taxi instrument checks
- 7:27 Run-up and radio setup for the departure
- 10:52 Takeoff on 29R, hand-flown
- 16:18 Intercepting the LAX 170 radial
- 21:42 Airspeed rising in the climb: pitot ice
- 23:34 Tell ATC before you deviate
- 25:48 Altimeter and VSI stop: the first mayday
- 29:31 Pause: static port, not vacuum
- 33:37 Vectors instead of the procedure turn
- 34:55 The real vacuum failure: partial panel begins
- 36:22 VOR 30 on the compass
- 42:14 High and past the fix: go missed
- 46:44 Why the ILS was the better request
- 50:03 The missed approach and a stabilizing vector
- 1:01:09 Vectors for the ILS 30
- 1:07:26 Compass turning error on the intercept
- 1:12:37 Pitch with the altimeter, not the VSI
- 1:15:05 Breakout and landing
- 1:18:29 Debrief: one failure, two icing problems
Inside this report
- The full session on video, 1 hour 30 minutes
- Colin's sim screens side by side, with the approach chart he was flying and Jordan's webcam
- A close-up of the magnetic compass for the whole partial-panel stretch
- The full audio: Jordan's instruction and the ATC calls he played
- The 20 chapters above as jump points in the player
- Jordan's 6 main points
The full report continues in FSC Pro
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Based on a real Flight Sim Coach coaching session, used with the client's consent. The client's name has been changed.
