EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Distraction; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance
General None Reported / Taken
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
While climbing through 18;000 feet; I noticed the STD button to reset the baro to 29.92 was missing. It is at that time when I realized that also the aircraft slip indicator was missing. Then; ask the Captain (CA) if he knew anything about it. He responded that Maintenance had just recently remove and replaced the #2 Primary Flight Display (PFD) bezel. In my comments to him I mention that it appears that the part they had used for replacement is not the correct or similar part; as the slip indicator was missing. He proceed to look for the Maintenance and MEL books. We quickly concluded that we had probably taken this airplane without a #2 slip indicator. Dispatch and maintenance control were 'ACARS'd'.During pre-flight we were targeting an issue with the ACARS and the weight and balance. This issue may or may not have been a contributing factor to miss the lack of a slip indicator. Also; the location of the slip indicator is a contributing factor or thread since it is directly behind the aircraft control column. In short; the lack of a slip indicator was missed due to its location and lack of extra attention on my part during pre-flight. Perhaps leaning closer to the display board and PFD may have helped mitigate the view obstruction. Also; if I would have looked at the Maintenance log I would have noticed the write up and Maintenance action. Maybe then I would have taken a second look at my PFD and hopefully caught the missing slip indicator.
Passing FL180 in the climb; an EMB145 First Officer notices that his altimeter STD/local reset button is missing from the Primary Flight Display (PFD) control panel; along with the slip indicator. The First Officer's PFD bezel had recently been removed and replaced by Maintenance.