10 Day Instrument

[flyingron]

Whether you get actual or not doesn't much matter if you do ten day or not. Either you have suitable weather for student-actual or you don't. I did have some actual on my PIC course.

I launched a few weeks later into benign but continuously in the clouds warm front stratus.

II disagree with Canuck. I find the FOGGLES far more disconcerting than I've ever found actual.

 

[David Megginson]

I launched a few weeks later into benign but continuously in the clouds warm front stratus.

II disagree with Canuck. I find the FOGGLES far more disconcerting than I've ever found actual.

Actually, I agree with you on that. I also find the foggles disconcerting, and whenever I can, try to take my two-year IPC in actual IMC and leave the foggles in my flight bag (my very first IFR flight test in 2003 was in 400+1, which was great).

What the foggles don't do, though, is produce a realistic sense of the leans, or show you what it's like to fly in pure white with no shadows or other clues about your orientation.

 

[Jim_R]

I'm glad to hear that. I suspect it's not the case with all (most?) pilots, but it can work, just like sending WWII fighter pilots straight into cloud after making them throw up a few times in a Link trainer often worked.

I'm not sure I agree with that (the "most?" part, I mean), but I have no solid data one way or the other. Still, it seems like there are very many pilots who achieve their IR through accelerated courses, and yet there is not a cascade of newly-minted accelerated IR pilots falling out of the sky, so like I say, I'm not sure I agree. I don't think that I am a particularly adept or special pilot, so I would not expect my experience to be particularly rare.

 

[SbestCFII]

The condensed course is fine if you continue instrument flying after completion. If you take a break you’ll forget most of the training

That's true with any training, snail-paced or accelerated. The accelerated tend to build skills more quickly (which is why the military uses it), but regularly exercising the acquired skills is what builds the unconscious competence we consider to be proficiency. Do it, do it often, and you'll do it well.

 

[flyingron]

Nope about the only thing that (at least for me) foggles v. actual caused was the apprehension in actual that I couldn't just rip off the foggles and be in instant VMC.

 

[Pugs]

I find the FOGGLES far more disconcerting than I've ever found actual.

I don't know if I find them more disorienting or not but I do find actual IFR easier than the foggles. Maybe it's the larger field of view or just that it's "game time" and I focus more but it does feel more relaxed. Odd.

 

[GaryV]

I took the 7 day course at Gatts in Kansas. The weather cooperated and we flew actual IMC starting on day one then found IMC to fly in most days of the course.

I went from getting so far behind the plane that I’d have the instructor take control on the first day to being comfortable and ahead of the plane by the third. By the end of the course I was very comfortable in IMC and had fun on the checkride which also included actual IMC.

I did the course in my plane and have been comfortable in IMC since then. I do get a lot of time in actual IMC flying in the Houston area and that helps me stay current.

Based on my experience I recommend the accelerated training. The week I spent with Gatts was one of the most fun vacations I’ve ever taken.

Gary

 

[Tarheelpilot]

That's true with any training, snail-paced or accelerated. The accelerated tend to build skills more quickly (which is why the military uses it), but regularly exercising the acquired skills is what builds the unconscious competence we consider to be proficiency. Do it, do it often, and you'll do it well.

Yeah. I said that...

 

[denverpilot]

The challenge is that until you've been in actual for a few hours, you probably never have experienced full-fledged leans (they're rare with foggles, because of peripheral vision and sun/shadow clues on the panel), and it's a coin toss whether you'll be able to overcome them or not. In your case, you did, probably because you have a good scan and your brain is able to overpower balance signals from your body, but that's not always the case without a lot of practice, sadly.

There are ways to induce it, but a great way to have it happen in an accelerated course is to do a bunch of approaches on a moonless or high overcast night if IMC isn’t readily available during the timeframe of the training.

 

[tigerowner]

I went this route for my instrument and it worked well for me. I recommend that you know the airplane in which you will be training cold before starting. Know the power settings and configuration for approach speeds without looking them up. You don't want to be spending time learning this during a condensed course where you could easily fall behind.

The course was exhausting however in all honesty, focusing on this and nothing else for two weeks was just what I needed.

 

[Paveslave53]

Well I figured I should put a close to this post.I have been flying instruments little by little with instructors when I could and I learned a lot over the course of about a year.I learned more in the 10 day IFR program that I did in one year.You do so many approaches and you fly so much it’s nearly impossible not to pick it up.Unless you can go out and fly four hours a day or six hours a day every day for a month before your check ride the 10 day in my opinion is the way to go.Your brain is literally mush the first few days in your hands and feet feel exhausted.I liked the course so much I ended up going back and doing my commercial and my CFI.To anyone that read this post who is wondering if a 10 day course is worth it in my opinion 100% yes.

 

[Martin__]

10 day IR course is the way to go. If it didn't work most of the time it wouldn't be commercially viable as it has been this whole time, at least since I got my IR 13 or 14 years ago.

 

[DesertNomad]

You did a 10 day CFI course?? Did your head explode?

 

[Paveslave53]

You did a 10 day CFI course?? Did your head explode?

100%…… I was so stressed out. The worst part was my airplane was down. I was still trying to finish my annual and I needed a new shimmy dampener And encoder. Aviation classics in Reno was backed up to do my 91.11/4.13. I had to rent a warrior 150 and I have never flown one in my life. I did 8 hours in it before my checkride. After flying 182 for so long you forget what a simple airplane is.Don’t get me wrong the 182 is not a hard airplane to fly but it’s 2x times the work of a warrior or 172.

 

[azpilot]

...Arizona in June...

As an Arizona native and current resident, I would highly discourage this, but not for the reasons you're suggesting.

Nobody wants to sit in a GA airplane without AC for any length of time in June here.

Having said that, I did finish my private certificate in the summer time. lol

 

[WDD]

Your brain is literally mush the first few days in your hands and feet feel exhausted.

How old are you if I can be a bit forward? I say this because your quote is how I felt all of this year with IFR training LOL. Congrats - and great that this worked so well for you. I'd have to think long and hard to determine if this would be appropriate for me. I think things need a bit of time with me to become second nature, to stop over thinking things, etc.

 

[Paveslave53]

How old are you if I can be a bit forward? I say this because your quote is how I felt all of this year with IFR training LOL. Congrats - and great that this worked so well for you. I'd have to think long and hard to determine if this would be appropriate for me. I think things need a bit of time with me to become second nature, to stop over thinking things, etc.

An old soul of 38 going on 70… an entire life in aviation and wars zones. 10 combined years in Iraq and 3 in Afghanistan. I feel older then I should.