Best area to get some training in actual?

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Cici

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Cici
I've got about half my hours for my instrument and remain frustrated about getting some experience in actual conditions. I thought the last week or 2 I would get my chance, but now the freezing level is hovering 2000' agl over the field and it is so hard to get actual experience on the Colorado front range (thunderstorms in the summer, icing in the winter, we get a handful of ga IMC windows a year). So, looking to travel for a long weekend to get some experience in actual. I don't want to be one of those IR guys that are scared to fly in actual.

Where and what season has the most reliably crappy weather? My mind goes to the pac NW. Googling got me some schools/operations in the NE, but are those a go in the fall time? What about the SE?
 
The California coast in spring and summer is good for some with the marine layer (low coastal stratus), but you’ll need to schedule your flights for mornings before it burns off. The Central Valley is good for IMC in the winter. You could get plenty of approaches to minimums.
 
Cici said:
What about the SE?
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Might have a tropical depression and/ or hurricane headed our way this week. C’mon down! But, we’re not in the SE according to them Carlina turkeys, so we’ll say the Deep South.
 
We get lots of benign ifr for days on end in late spring and early fall in CNY due to dear old Lake Ontario and the random cutoff low.
 
I don’t think there will be much more predictable then west coast marine layers. I’ve be very fortunate that my training I have about 8-10 hours of actual. My CFI will call me and say “ it’s gonna be ****ty tomorrow, let’s go” done a lot of approaches to just above minimums. A lot of take offs with IMC withing 700’ agl. Did an approach about a month ago that we knew we would have to go missed just so I could look at socked in at 200 agl looked like. Actual is priceless IMO as when you get in it in real life You’ll have the experience.
East coast for me has been real good this year but that is very unpredictable.
 
Cici said:
I've got about half my hours for my instrument and remain frustrated about getting some experience in actual conditions. I thought the last week or 2 I would get my chance, but now the freezing level is hovering 2000' agl over the field and it is so hard to get actual experience on the Colorado front range (thunderstorms in the summer, icing in the winter, we get a handful of ga IMC windows a year). So, looking to travel for a long weekend to get some experience in actual. I don't want to be one of those IR guys that are scared to fly in actual.

Where and what season has the most reliably crappy weather? My mind goes to the pac NW. Googling got me some schools/operations in the NE, but are those a go in the fall time? What about the SE?
Click to expand...
Cici said:
I've got about half my hours for my instrument and remain frustrated about getting some experience in actual conditions. I thought the last week or 2 I would get my chance, but now the freezing level is hovering 2000' agl over the field and it is so hard to get actual experience on the Colorado front range (thunderstorms in the summer, icing in the winter, we get a handful of ga IMC windows a year). So, looking to travel for a long weekend to get some experience in actual. I don't want to be one of those IR guys that are scared to fly in actual.

Where and what season has the most reliably crappy weather? My mind goes to the pac NW. Googling got me some schools/operations in the NE, but are those a go in the fall time? What about the SE?
Click to expand...

As an instrument instructor in the Seattle area I lived for those days when the ceiling was 1000 feet and the tops were at 4000 feet. Almost all of the local approaches have initial approach segments at 2000 to 3000. That meant that we could do airwork without a view-limiting device and only put one on when it was time to shoot an approach. Ceilings at 500 were even better but hard to come by....on those days, we left the hood/foggles at the office.

There was no special season, but fall and winter afforded the most opportunities.

Bob
 
Not a lot of direct experience out there, but I think the Pacific Northwest is quite cloudy but doesn't get cold enough for ice down low. Maybe.

Or, you could have my partner schedule a flight near you. Dude is a rare earth weather magnet. We flew together on a trip once to an area that was having a drought. We left between the arms of a tropical storm. Another time he went somewhere and they had to evacuate the control tower because of a tornado.

Actually, take that back. You don't want to schedule near him if you want to actually fly. :rofl:
 
West coast of florida,in the spring.
 
Hahahaha it’s like I’m reading words written by myself years ago!!!! I learned to fly in Colorado. I was always wanting to do actual instrument. So since I was where your at now, please take my thoughts to heart.

Relax and don’t worry about it. Your instrument days will come. Spring and fall are the best times in Colorado but are tricky at best. Beware of ice. It’s insidious and can take you to place where you won’t have the skills to deal with for years to come!! That said thunderstorms are worse. They will kill you in a most terrifying manner. Just don’t do actual if there is a chance there will be convection.

Now rant over, here is the good part. If you must go to eastern Colorado and Kansas in the wee hours of the morning. Watch the taf like a hawk and you will find the days where the weather is imc. In the cooling of the night you will find the imc to be good and gentle.

Lastly no actual no problem. Get a safety pilot and put on foggles and fly at night. Closest to feeling imc. Oh yes and once rated, file for every cross country you do!! That’s where your experience and skills will develop. And since you do it vfr, there is no threat of getting overwhelmed. Instead you will become confident in communicating and procedures.

Best of luck. For further questions hit me up
 
Fall or spring either coast or places affected by lake effects.

Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
 
Let’s just say I never had to use a hood and safety pilot to stay instrument current the 5 years I lived in San Diego.....
 
Do I read it right that you're in Colorado? You could fly south (SE or SW, your pick) for a few hours and get into some warm wet stuff. We don't get much icing down here in the winter unless it is really really cold.
Hope you can catch a nice "juicy" weekend somewhere in the warm south.
 
Here in Iowa we are on day 5 or 6 of solid IFR. Currently 10SM BRK600 OVC1000 17/16. Trying to get up with my CFI again but work sucks.
 
lancie00 said:
Here in Iowa we are on day 5 or 6 of solid IFR. Currently 10SM BRK600 OVC1000 17/16. Trying to get up with my CFI again but work sucks.
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That's VFR! Never heard of a 100,000-foot ceiling though. ;)

(I assume you meant BKN006 OVC010?)
 
During the year and a half after getting my IR that I lived in Michigan, I never once needed a hood and safety pilot. Spring, summer, fall, it was easy to find days with benign IFR conditions. Winter was a little harder, but still possible.
 
In my experience, PNW is pretty good for training in actual IMC in any month that's not June-August. The freezing levels can get pretty low in the winter though.
 
SImCom..... You want training, right?
 
Cici said:
I've got about half my hours for my instrument and remain frustrated about getting some experience in actual conditions. I thought the last week or 2 I would get my chance, but now the freezing level is hovering 2000' agl over the field and it is so hard to get actual experience on the Colorado front range (thunderstorms in the summer, icing in the winter, we get a handful of ga IMC windows a year). So, looking to travel for a long weekend to get some experience in actual. I don't want to be one of those IR guys that are scared to fly in actual.

Where and what season has the most reliably crappy weather? My mind goes to the pac NW. Googling got me some schools/operations in the NE, but are those a go in the fall time? What about the SE?
Click to expand...

Come to Norway...its been crap weather for over a week, but not (as far as I kmow) icing. Lots of overcast, fog, etc. but then again today was suddenly clear skies. :)

But give it a minute and I'm sure it will get to IMC. I have this magic trick, all I have to do is book a flight for y VFR training, and sure as hell it will go bad weather! I didn't have flight booked today.
 
Fall in eastern NC starting at the end of the tropical season and runs into winter (which is usually pretty mild) and early spring. Lots of moisture in stable air makes for good instrument training. Here are a few photos:
getPart
getPart
 
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