partial failure - pitot heat

dominikos

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Feb 14, 2021
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Houston, TX
are there any procedures published for partial failures? or explaining on how to scan panel compensating for any partial issue? forgot to turn pitot heat on before descend through cloud layer. once completely lost pitot, HDX showed pitot heat on message. For the future, I want to avoid surprise like this one and develop partial failure procedures. Is there any place where those are discussed/proposed specifically for HDX?
I looked through HDX documentation, I can find “CHECK PITOT HEAT” but I don’t know how I should handle this till pitot heat starts to work. Any other procedures like that I should be familiar with?
 

airguy

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I'm not sure what you're asking for here - there was no failure involved for the equipment - only for the pilot. You should have pitot heat turned on anytime you are in IMC with temps below 40F or 5C.

If you are asking about a "partial panel" procedure to follow after you have already lost the airspeed indication, you need to consult your POH or a certified flight instructor.
 

dominikos

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the more I think about it, this is probably not a real question. I just need to spend time going through the manual understanding how HDX could behave in different situations. There is a wealth of information in the manual that I didn’t digest yet.
fully agree on your point about pitot heat. forgetting about it tho really sucks and was wondering if there is something else I should have been doing to compensate for it.
 

airguy

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I never really considered it before, but there might be a way to set an alert on low OAT (say dropping below 40F) to alert the pilot to activate Pitot Heat.
the more I think about it, this is probably not a real question. I just need to spend time going through the manual understanding how HDX could behave in different situations. There is a wealth of information in the manual that I didn’t digest yet.
fully agree on your point about pitot heat. forgetting about it tho really sucks and was wondering if there is something else I should have been doing to compensate for it
 

Dynon

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So one thing that might be helpful is the AFMS (Approved Flight Manual Supplement) for the Dynon Certified side of things. We've taken a light touch historically on specific procedures, but there are some regulatory requirements on the certified side that drives some of the documentation there. It may be more in line with what you're looking for:

 

soarhead

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Mar 2, 2021
Messages
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You could just have it on all the time. Or at least if you are on an IFR flight, make it part of your before takeoff checklist, or after takeoff and after landing if you prefer. The Dynon Pitot heat cycles on an off, you are not going to burn it out. I know that in the GA world, pitot heat is the forgotten child. In the the pro world, it's always on. It would be really cool if it had an "auto" mode like the transponder and activated by the AHARS sensing speed through 40 kts.
 
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