New PPL

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Chesterfield

Filing Flight Plan
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Chesterfield
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
 
I cant give you info on starting IFR training but congratulations on getting your PPL. I am getting ready for my first bi-annual flight review and almost 300 hours over the 2 years. Im having a blast and Im sure you will too. Have fun for a bit then get working on the IFR. There is a LOT of things to learn VFR first.
 
I would recommend enjoying your newfound freedom for a few months first.

Get some $100 cheeseburgers, and take a friend to someplace very inconvenient by car.

Develop your ADM, be frustrated with weather, celebrate your accomplishments, and THEN, begin IR studies.

After all, you need 50 hrs of Cross Country time before you are eligible for the practical exam. (61.65)
 
Congratulations!

Personally, I flew about 150 hours between earning Private and starting my Instrument training, and I finished IR having just logged all the experience requirements for Commercial. I felt like gaining some experience as a VFR pilot was valuable, and having completed all the requisite cross country PIC time, the time with my CFII was mostly spent flying back-to-back approaches rather than churning away straight-and-level trying to build XC time. If you decide to take a similar route, try to utilize flight following as much as possible - it makes your future IFR communications second nature.

I didn't use a formal ground school for Instrument; in addition to FAA publications, the following resources were valuable:

- Sheppard Air for the written
- PilotEdge Workshops on YouTube
- FlightInsight 'IFR Training' playlist on YouTube
- PilotsCafe IFR Review PDF
- Gary Reeves' book 'Single Pilot IFR Pro Tips' has some decent concepts in it, and a lot of corny BS
- Opposing Bases podcast was helpful in understanding the big picture of operating in the NAS, and what's happening on the controllers' end of the interaction. (I couldn't stand the hosts until I went back and started at episode 1.)
- Hiring a septuagenarian CFII with a ton of experience helped a lot.
 
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As mentioned use time in between to start knocking out the cross country hours. If you have time and want to start studying for the ifr written go for it. There's a lot of brand new info to absorb. Might be good to get that out of the way before you start the flight training portion. And congrats!
 
Congratulations.

If IFR is in your future, it’s never too early to start getting your head in the game. But as a new pilot, there is so very much to learn with your eyes out the window.

The required cross country hours have been mentioned, but I object to the term “knock out.” Makes it sound like just checking the box. Yes, you can do that, but I’ll add that they should be to different places in different directions, using different and longer distances, ideally bringing different challenges. That’s using them to develop experience which will be valuable as you move forward,
 
Chesterfield said:
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
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Congrats on your PPL!!
Yes any knowledge on IFR is a good idea!!!
 
I suggest enrolling in an online IR ground school and start that process in your non-flying free time. You can run through the video presentations and printed information as many times as you like. I used Gold Seal and have lifetime access to the courses for refreshers. I proceeded with my IR and was checked out 2 mos after my PP checkride; I did have over a year of flying due to a delayed medical certificate though. Regardless, starting a ground school at your leisure via an online course is an excellent prep for when you start your instructed IR training.
 
Congratulations on the PPL

Best advice I got was go fly a lot. The more you fly the more lessons you learn.
Go get aggravated by weather, Get a clearance for a busy Bravo, Get your a$$ handed to you in some turbulence you weren't expecting. Just go fly. Maybe throw in an IFR ground school to start getting a little taste of it, but most of all go have fun.
 
Chesterfield said:
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Hold off for a while.. enjoy.. practice landings until you REALLY grease it in
 
It is a good idea to get a head start on your instrument training, but I wouldn't expect to be doing any IFR procedures on your first or second lesson. You have to get power/performance numbers down and basic attitudes first.

One thing that will really help is to fly a lot of VFR cross-country flights using flight following, especially in some challenging airspaces. My experience has been that new instrument students with a lot of flight-following experience get comfortable with IFR communications MUCH faster.

Here's a summary study guide that will be really helpful. Free download, no signup required, and you won't end up on anyone's email list:

goldseal.link

IFR Know It All

Everything you need to know about getting your Instrument Rating!
goldseal.link

.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Congratulations.

If IFR is in your future, it’s never too early to start getting your head in the game. But as a new pilot, there is so very much to learn with your eyes out the window.

The required cross country hours have been mentioned, but I object to the term “knock out.” Makes it sound like just checking the box. Yes, you can do that, but I’ll add that they should be to different places in different directions, using different and longer distances, ideally bringing different challenges. That’s using them to develop experience which will be valuable as you move forward,
Click to expand...
... and if you didn't train at a towered airport and have limited towered airport experience, make them - especially nearby Class C and even B primaries - a priority. And always use flight following.
 
write-stuff said:
One thing that will really help is to fly a lot of VFR cross-country flights using flight following, especially in some challenging airspaces. My experience has been that new instrument students with a lot of flight-following experience get comfortable with IFR communications MUCH faster.
Click to expand...
I swear I started writing mine before I saw yours!
 
Thank you all for your responses. I have read all your comments, such a helpful community. Today I took my first pleasure flight with a passenger, my wife. We went out as the sun came up to make sure it was a nice cool and smooth flight. Honestly a day I will treasure more than my first solo, the Mrs loved it!

I going to enjoy my PPL for a little while before diving right into IMC. That said, where I live we do not get many IMC days a year so I have asked my CFI to reach out when we do get full IMC so I can go ahead and take advantage when it happens.

Thank you write-stuff for the link. Much appreciated.

As for Class C & B airports. I trained at a un-towered field real close to a Class C airport so have been there a few times, but never solo. I have added that to the list of what to do on the next VFR PPL flight. My long solo XC did take me to a Class D airport and I am planning on heading back there again in the near future.

I fly out of KMDD in Midland TX. The Class C I mentioned above is KMAF and the Class D is KSJT. For those who may be local please feel free to recommend other airports in the area that are worth a flight.
 
Chesterfield said:
I fly out of KMDD in Midland TX. The Class C I mentioned above is KMAF and the Class D is KSJT. For those who may be local please feel free to recommend other airports in the area that are worth a flight.
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I don’t know the area but I would be looking for places within a reasonable distance where there is something interesting to do, whether food or fun.

Or just a visit. I have a friend who earned his private last December. In addition to taking trips with his son (he owns an LSA), he gave a challenge to friends in other places - if they buy lunch he’ll fly there. I used to monitor his progress on FlightAware and was amazed at the distances he traveled. I’m sure he has way more than 50 cross country at this point and is beginning instrument training,

You probably don’t have the time for Angel Flight, but you might look at organizations like Pilots n Paws.
 
Get in some flying time, go all over, get lots of tower time, lots of flight following, more time on the radio will help with that portion of the ifr training, Your always talking to someone.

Learn perfect straight and level, perfect timed turns. Etc..

The most important is, just go out and have some fun, ifr training will burn you out.
 
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