By Jeff Pardo

Next to being on fire or having an engine failure, experiencing an electrical (or vacuum) failure in instrument conditions probably gets the pilots’ highest award for dread and distress. Of course compared to the first two, if you’re VFR—or even if you can’t see your wingtips—dead radios would run a distant third, and there is no good reason to let it ruin your day.

I should know; I’ve had worse—a total electrical failure, in IMC, with my family, over mountains. Since then, I’ve made it my business to bone up on the procedures that cover suddenly finding oneself deaf and dumb, and I’d like to share something: You don’t…