Advice on finishing IFR

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MartinMcK

Filing Flight Plan
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Display name:
Martin
Short-time reader, first time poster.

A little background on me - I'm ~185 hour private pilot based in SoCal and have been working on IFR since mid-March. In that time I've logged about 30 hours of training, completed the long XC, and passed my written. For the written, I got very little training from my CFII and relied on the King class (which was fine, if a little dated). At this stage I know WHAT to do, and my focus is on polishing it so I'm consistently meeting PTS.

We've started talking about scheduling my checkride and apparently the earliest my CFII could find an examiner that was available is mid-September. (something about the FAA limiting the number if IFR check rides they could give or some such?) As an added stressor, I'm being relocated back east in the fall and my training budget for the rating is already pretty much spent.

My CFII's solution is to continue to fly 2x/week until September comes and his tone on where I am in my skills development has changed dramatically since trying to schedule my checkride.

I'd like to get some feedback from others on a couple of things:
1) Does a 2.5 month wait for a check ride pass the sniff test?
2) What's the consensus on the best path to finish? I see three options - ride it out until mid-September, find a "pilot mill" and do a long weekend finish-up course, or pause training entirely and pick it up again after I'm moved.

Any thoughts from the group? Thanks in advance!
 
Do you have to take the checkride in SoCal? Maybe find a CFII elsewhere that can get you the final hours and sign you off? I called to schedule my checkride 6 days before I took it. The DPE was in Oshkosh (and has a school full of instructors), so if you're coming in for AirVenture maybe you can swing coming in a few days early to finish up the rating?
 
2.5 months seems like an awfully long time,unless your not ready. Is there a reason your CFI wants to use a particular examiner? I would try to do the ride sooner than later.
 
Thanks, guys. My suspicion that the timeline isn't quite right appear well-founded. Unfortunately Oshkosh isn't in the cards this year. :(

I suppose I could go to one of the bigger schools at MYF and try to do a finish up there. It might not be a bad idea in order to get a better assessment on where I really am skill-wise anyway. I think I'm pretty close, and my CFII previously said we were at the point of "polish and perfect" - but who really knows.

We're flying this evening so this is probably something I'll address. The delay is a concern, but a bigger concern for me is a CFII that's not being up front and honest about where my skills are.
 
Slightly off topic Martin, but where are you training in SoCal?

I am in the LA area currently flying out of POC, but may be looking for a new training outfit soon.
 
Have a come to Jesus with your CFII, log the PTS requirements and have him sign you off (log book and 8710) and scheduel it yourself.


http://av-info.faa.gov/designeesearch.asp


Switching instructors is going to be a pain in the azz and probably cost you more hour$
 
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RalphInCA said:
Slightly off topic Martin, but where are you training in SoCal?

I am in the LA area currently flying out of POC, but may be looking for a new training outfit soon.
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I'm down in north county SD, flying out of CRQ.
 
James331 said:
Have a come to Jesus with your CFII, log the PTS requirements and have him sign you off (log book and 8710) and scheduel it yourself.


http://av-info.faa.gov/designeesearch.asp


Switching instructors is going to be a pain in the azz and probably cost you more hour$
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Had that conversation tonight... can't say I really have a good understanding of things afterwards. Stuck to the same timeline as before and stuck to the polish and work out the kinks assessment of my flying. Doesn't make much sense to me, but as you mention switching is just going to add hours and ultimately may not save me that much time. I did get the impression that the CFII wants to use a specific examiner. Kinda damned if I do, damned if I don't it seems.
 
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I can get you a DPE next week At KCMA, at least that is what he told me when I called about a IFR check ride.
 
MartinMcK said:
Had that conversation tonight... can't say I really have a good understanding of things afterwards. Stuck to the same timeline as before and stuck to the polish and work out the kinks assessment of my flying. Doesn't make much sense to me, but as you mention switching is just going to add hours and ultimately may not save me that much time. I did get the impression that the CFII wants to use a specific examiner. Kinda damned if I do, damned if I don't it seems.
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Run, don't walk away from this CFII. If they say you just need to "polish" your skills but don't give specific feedback and estimate 20+ more hours before the checkride- there's something they aren't telling you.

Find another CFII, accept that you'll lose 2-3 flights "meshing" and reviewing stuff, and don't look back.
 
MartinMcK said:
Had that conversation tonight... can't say I really have a good understanding of things afterwards. Stuck to the same timeline as before and stuck to the polish and work out the kinks assessment of my flying. Doesn't make much sense to me, but as you mention switching is just going to add hours and ultimately may not save me that much time. I did get the impression that the CFII wants to use a specific examiner. Kinda damned if I do, damned if I don't it seems.
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Fire him
 
I agree bounce he needs to milk some cash from your tits for a while!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tell him if I am ready another class or two at least give me my sign off so I can find someone else or know I am ready


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MartinMcK said:
We've started talking about scheduling my checkride and apparently the earliest my CFII could find an examiner that was available is mid-September. (something about the FAA limiting the number if IFR check rides they could give or some such?)
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THAT doesn't pass the sniff test.
 
Some outfits do IFR training from start to finish in 10 days. You're 3/4 done and your CFI says 2.5 months more? Fire him.
 
Witmo said:
Some outfits do IFR training from start to finish in 10 days. You're 3/4 done and your CFI says 2.5 months more? Fire him.
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Uh 10 days for a IFR ticket ain't good ether, I'd say mimmm a month, just not good material to try to cram OR let get rusty by spreading flights out too much.
 
Witmo said:
Some outfits do IFR training from start to finish in 10 days. You're 3/4 done and your CFI says 2.5 months more? Fire him.
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I just finished my IFR in 7 days this last weekend.
 
ssonixx said:
I just finished my IFR in 7 days this last weekend.
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How much IMC time did you log?

You shoot LPVs, NDBs, PAR?

Pop-up and composite ops?

. Learn to use MVA and a cruse clearence to get into a non IAP airport?

I hope you were taught to incorporate OAT into your scan.

Radar interpretation? What side to pass a t storm?
 
I had in 42 hours. IMC was 18 hours.

LP and LPV, yes. I had to fly an LP on my checkride even.

NO NDBs as none of the airports we flew had NDB approaches. We did fly on the SIM, however.

PAR and ASR, both.

I assume you mean requesting pop-up IFR clearance, in which case, yes.

I haven't filed a composite IFR and VFR flight plan but I have cancelled IFR and gone VFR Not sure I see the need to do a composite one as I haven't filed VFR flight plans since I completed PPL training. If VFR and I am going somewhere then I go on flight following. Now of course IFR.

MVA was used to get to non IAP airport, but not cruise clearance. I know academically what cruise is but haven't flown a block of altitude before. I am sure that could be useful though, but haven't come across a need yet.

Assuming you are talking about freezing levels. If it is cold, I feel it in my plane. Besides it was no cooler than 16 degrees C at the altitudes we were flying and close to 30 on the ground.

Radar interpretation - I don't believe this is strictly an IFR operation need to learn that. One probably should understand that as a VFR pilot esp if you fly distances.

Much of what you are suggesting is related to ground school and knowledge. I agree that these are factors that need to be learned but I should have clarified that the course I took is learning to fly IFR along with getting in the requisite hours. The course assumes you have already passed your knowledge exam and you know how to fly your own airplane.

I do highly recommend the GATTS training.
 
James331 said:
Uh 10 days for a IFR ticket ain't good ether, I'd say mimmm a month, just not good material to try to cram OR let get rusty by spreading flights out too much.
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I did 10 day instruments for almost a year at a flight school in az. Keep in mind those are 11-12 hour days and the written is done before the student shows up.
Worked really well.

Examiners are being limited on the number of checkrides they can give. Still, your instructor should have no problem getting you an available examiner in Socal that fits your schedule.

Sent from my iPad
 
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And given how many extra hours of training he's talking about, you can fly your airplane somewhere else (VFR) spend the night at a nice hotel, and take a check ride for less.

WTF?

One of my colleagues had a ~2 week wait in NorCal (at KTCY) for his IFR checkride, and we thought that was long. When he busted it (430 configuration error resulting in missing the ILS) and had to reschedule, that was another two weeks counting the remedial training.

There is a pretty nice hotel adjacent to Concord (KCCR) transient parking. Just saying. There is a fabulous hotel (Claremont) crosstown from KOAK.
 
Apologies for the disappearance... things have got a little crazy at home!

As it turns out, the CFII wrote down the wrong month for the checkride and it was actually booked in Mid-August, which makes sense given a trip I'm taking at the end of July - we either had to get it in before then or wait a week or so after I got back since I didn't want to come back from a 10 day layoff and go right into a check ride.

Still a bit frustrating, but probably better than rushing into a bust, eh?
 
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