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Not too long ago, on an daytime IFR flight in my previous airplane, I was completely "in the soup", in a heavy rainstorm. Then, my attitude indicator showed me to start a steepening right, decending turn. In fact, I had experienced a vacuum system failure. Quickly directing my scan to the vertical speed indicator, the turn coordinator and the magnetic compass confirmed the vac pump failure, as did the tiny vac pressure gage. I, personally, do not agree with using the attitude indicator as a primary pitch indication, even if the vacuum system is not malfunctioning. A nose-up pitch indication normally indicates a climb, "normally", but not always. The identical nose up pitch indication could be displayed in a power off stall, or in a low power cruise. The vertical speed indicator will give a better pitch indication in all cases.
don bowen
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