Hi all..cold light of day less tired now...apologies for talking bollocks for some reason....
Blueskis - you are right he did say with the master still on it sounded like gyros running down - however my statement about pilots not knowing whow which instruments are driven in what way still stands - if you dont know you shouldnt be flying that aircraft type. It means that you do not have enough information on the type of aircraft you are flying. Thus (more likely than not)your conversion/familiarisation training was defficient - a sad reflection on the instructors involved rather than the pilot.
Its like hydraulic & vacuum systems - on some twins the vac pumps & alternator are on a single engine - not both as in the case of the vast majority of senecas - failure of this engine could prove fatal unless you fully understand the implications.
Regarding battery life - you obviously havent read some POH - where it *is* stated for a good many a/c out there - for instance PA28s actually have an entry in them. Now whilst I agree that the unknown factor is the condition of the battery it is none the less still stated - and
afaik the battery will be tested on maintenance to ensure that it will provide this performance - i believe this is a CofA issue - but must confess I dont know and am now speculating....
p.s. I have nothing against GPS. I understand cockpit resource management...It is refreshing to know that there are still pilots out there that look out of the window...the relationship between the two - is that too many pilots love watching their moving map GPSs - rather than looking out of the window. This isnt speculation - im a flying instructor and *know* this is the case having witnessed it a number of times....and....75% of qualified pilots I observe fail to maintain adequate lookout - especially in the climb & manoeuvring. The problem is that many pilots do not do proper planning - instead they merely program up the GPS...OBK obviously does not fall into that category and I applaud him for being one of the pilots whose flying is obviously more 'professional' than most.
However, i do apologise for getting the soap box out on an unrelated topic....