A vacuum gauge typically is installed some- ûwhere out of the way, as behind the yoke.

From a pilot’s earliest days of instruction, the need to have an “out” gets drilled over and over. Typically, pilots are taught to have a strategy to get out of trouble if the course upon which you are proceeding becomes untenable. But the best-laid plans won’t help you if you lose the tools to execute them.

That’s one reason why instrument training leans heavily on partial-panel skills. The accident record shows there are relatively few casualties to vacuum system failures during IMC, but pilots who survive them tell harrowing tales of near disaster. …