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Initial Fix
Go fly and build your cross country. You need that for your instrument rating anyway. Instrument rating next.
In my case, the 182 got me the high performance endorsement…when I was ready for the Bo, I had both endorsements and my IFR rating. Didn’t really have much choice because the insurance company pretty much required IFR, 50 hours of complex time and 10 in type. Getting the 10 in type wasn’t bad - I bought the plane out of state and paid my CFI to pick up the plane with me. Shuttling it home was most of it, and we did a good day of shooting IFR approaches afterward.My school has an Arrow, which seems perfect for getting complex handled when coming from a Cherokee.
How did you go about getting the high performance endorsement when you bought the Bo?
Just my 2 cents, that apprehension may also be the little voice in the back of your head telling you to maybe slow down a little bit. I don't mean that in a derogatory way at all. You clearly have a driven mindset, technically oriented, and that's how people get things done. But you've also probably read the stories of the guy who goes from step 1 to 2 to 3 as fast as possible, ends up with a new to them aircraft that they have the min quals to fly, runs into a problem...and then they're gone.Thanks - this is helpful.
Honestly, I am very apprehensive about flying any significant distance cross-country without the instrument training. It just seems like it would be tempting fate.
What you will find if you’re honest with yourself is that not having an instrument rating or a VFR only aircraft is not the limiter you think it is as a fresh private pilot.
There is a reason that nearly every company of any size uses private planes.
I could probably write a book to answer this question. I'll try not to.I'm within a couple of weeks of my PPL checkride, so I'm starting to think about the follow-on work. For my goals, I know that I will need to add on instrument and complex, likely high performance, possibly multi and/or pressurized (depends on the plane I end up buying).
What should I take into consideration regarding the order of getting the "add-on" certs and endorsements? Is there a good reason to try to do them in a certain order, parallel certain parts, or is it all just putting in time sequentially? Is there any reason to not get all of the above just for the sake of knowing as much as possible from a safety standpoint?
Best thing I learned from flying turbine aircraft came from the chief pilot, and it sounded very similar. "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." If you are in a big hurry, you screw things up and it makes you slower than you otherwise would have been. Take a deep breath, relax, do the whole damn checklist at a moderate pace even though you're in a hurry, and you'll be in the air before you know it.I learned something from a CFI that also does auto racing. He said "sometimes you need to slow down to speed up." I won't explain it as you either get it or you don't ...
This is good advice. I know people that have so little experience with VFR that they go IFR everywhere and miss out on some really fun flying.IMO getting IR without having done a bunch of vfr leaves you with big gaps. All IR really does for me is let me bust through a cloud layer. Most anything else is too high risk to be worth it. Figuring out how to do what you want safely in vfr is just as valuable.
It doesn't limit the percentage of flights I thought it would when I was a student pilot, but even if you don't always use it, you will need a LOT of time flexibility. At least half the US is susceptible to getting socked in under an overcast layer for days on end on occasion, killing any possibility of VFR flight when IFR would be a quick and easy pop up through the layer and on your way. If you can work remotely, that's one thing, but this sort of thing is where get-there-itis comes from.I have pretty much 4 cornered the continental US in VFR only aircraft, largely on a schedule. What you will find if you’re honest with yourself is that not having an instrument rating or a VFR only aircraft is not the limiter you think it is as a fresh private pilot.
I don't know how that's possible, unless your IFR trips are a no-go when it's VMC. IFR lets you complete trips that would not be safe or possible VFR.Outside of FIKI, RADAR-equipped airplanes, I don’t think my as-scheduled IFR trips have had a higher percentage than my as-scheduled VFR trips.
OK, I've gotta call BS on his article. He's misusing his numbers.
I would say that if you can't fly IFR, you might want to plan on a few days of flexibility, not just a few hours. You won't need it, until you do.Most flights suitable for a single-pilot small plane can be accomplished VFR, especially with a few hours of flexibility to wait out weather on occasion.
No, but it sure helps. Not only with the 1/3 more flights that I accomplish due to weather, but sometimes operationally it's just way easier to fly IFR. For example, flying into the Washington DC area, or flying into big, busy airports.Stated another way, a small plane is still a small plane, and an instrument rating won’t make it into a mini airliner.
Good points, but it isn't *that* hard to make things work if you have realistic expectations, especially for the earlier stages. I think that's at least part of what @StraightnLevel is after with this thread.Yes, but they’re using kerosene burners with two professional pilots to reach the dispatch reliability you seem to be seeking. Plus they have flight departments that manage the maintenance of the planes. And they still find themselves flying commercially part of the time.
Your expectations may be a bit high for a small piston plane owned and flown by a low-time pilot who’s already fully occupied with a regular job.
Flying an Archer in icing or embedded thunderstorms is a no-go. I also have single-engine IFR minimums that aren’t far from my VFR minimums. VFR often lets me complete trips that would not be possible or safe IFR.I don't know how that's possible, unless your IFR trips are a no-go when it's VMC. IFR lets you complete trips that would not be safe or possible VFR.
Dunno how useful the CEO comparison is: two hired pilots & a kero burner from a fractional jet company is not in our DIY league.I have more than 1M miles on Delta alone - I’m sitting on a 737-900 right now as I type this. 1) I think you over-estimate the reliability of the majors, and 2) cost is far less important to me than control over my schedule. A better comparison would be to a NetJets approach.
Bluntly, the ability to leave at 6AM and fly four hours direct to the airport down the street from my office (literally - I can see the VOR from my office window) is worth a lot in comparison to a commercial flight schedule that adds 90-120 minutes of net drive time, adds an hour or more of airport/security dwell time, and runs on THEIR schedule and not mine. Net result, I would get there at 2:30 in the afternoon flying commercial, which effectively burns the entire day. I’ve been doing this for decades, and it’s worn really, really thin.
There is a reason that nearly every company of any size uses private planes. It’s not because the CEO is a pilot, nor that he is saving $$$ (though this is often the case when you total up full costs of travel). Time is the most crucial commodity that any of us have, and that’s where GA creates real value.
Au contrere mon frere. It’s been a long, long time since SWA has gotten me anywhere for under five benjamins, especially on my timeline and it usually takes them longer door to door.…
I do feel compelled to mention also that, as part of your buying process, you should consider that Southwest can get you anywhere in the US for $500. Any day, in all weather. $500 bucks doesn’t get you very far with most twins or high performance singles….
Your expectations may be a bit high for a small piston plane owned and flown by a low-time pilot who’s already fully occupied with a regular job.
I think I’ve posted in another thread that airline-level dispatch reliability requires you to own two jets and employ four pilots full-time.Yes, but they’re using kerosene burners with two professional pilots to reach the dispatch reliability you seem to be seeking. Plus they have flight departments that manage the maintenance of the planes. And they still find themselves flying commercially part of the time.
Pressurized twins: they might be as reliable as a vintage lawnmower, but they make up for it by being as affordable to operate as a jet. I would love a 340, 414, or 421. But I would have to sell a kidney per year to keep it airworthy. It would be cheaper to sell all my kidneys in advance and get a 425.You could have a VERY well-restored Malibu, 340, 421, Baron, or even a Duke for a whole lot less, and from the inside my wife would be just as comfortable.
You must be real fun at parties.Doing ANYTHING without a plan is wasted time.
Heck, my observed dispatch rate this year with Delta is only about 75% (per trip, not per individual flight). I'm not joking.
This is with a piston single in the midwest. TBH I'm not sure a fiki twin would be much better, it'd just make the decision harder and have twice as many engines to break. I'll probably still go that direction in a few years though. I'd certainly feel better about flying at night or above widespread low imc if I had a second engine or a chute.My experience has been that
1) Your dispatch rate will be better than you think. Especially if you get your instrument rating. I've only had to scrub flights a few times, and all of those were completed by moving departure time +/- 1 day. If you have any flexibility at all a GA plane can be quite usable. Maintenance issues have been a bigger problem WRT not being able to go than weather.
Exactly.What's a party?![]()
^^^ thisNot really. Without my IR, the decisions were easy, black & white one might say. “No-go” was easy, and less tempting of fate with a “go” decision due to conservatism.
After the IR, you need to use better judgement. Your skill proficiency, plane’s condition, and consideration of how sure prediction of nature’s forces will be if you launch are much more “tempting fate” as you say.
You won’t appreciate it at this time.
Seems to be a pattern.Looks like the OP took his ball and went home again.
Only about 3% of my time is actual instrument time. However, I have a lot of legs with 0.1 instrument time where I punched up or down (or both) through a layer and they average 2.2 total time. In fact, 22% of my cross country legs and 25% of my cross country time have actual IMC logged, and I don't always bother logging actual IMC so in reality it's probably higher than that.
So yeah, 3% makes it sound like I could do 97% of my trips VFR, when in reality it's only about 75%.
Not only with the 1/3 more flights that I accomplish due to weather,
Yup, another one who had a hissy fit and wiped his question when he didn't get the answer he wanted. Maybe someday he'll grow up.Looks like the OP took his ball and went home again.
those two posts had nothing to do with your OP, so why should they be a reason to remove it?Nope. Just a direct response to these two posts.
That is exactly the attitude that has allowed you to become a 10,000 hour VFR pilot, and it will work very well after you get your instrument rating as well.I will also say, with my job, I carry my laptop on trips and I can WFH (work from hotel) if needed. I feel no pressure to complete a trip ever.
I'm now working on it, but I have no regrets, other than I could have learned a lot easier at a younger age!
Photograph Misty for me?So you’ll soon be able to take pics in IMC?
I can't see what he did there ...![]()
He made a joking play on words.
Play Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The screenplay, written by regular Eastwood collaborators Jo Heims and Dean Riesner, follows a radio disc jockey (Eastwood) being stalked by an obsessed female fan (Walter).
Yeah I got that but if he's shooting pics in IMC that might be all you get to see ... if you see what I mean ...
Some of you guys are pretty snarky but I always learn something in these threads.
At least this way no one can see how oily my belly is.Jack's new IMC masterpiece:
Trust me; there's a gorgeous Beech Starship in there.
What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business.At least this way no one can see how oily my belly is.
Or windscreen!At least this way no one can see how oily my belly is.