First time in the clouds and I gave up

Pilot Edge really helped me with dealing with the ATC side of the house but I TOTALLY agree. Flying in the clouds during training was fun and humbling. Flying in the clouds the first time without another pilot in the left seat (had my two girls on board) was a VERY different matter.
 
captain_ricky said:
A lot of people talk about putting foggles on. I found that in hard IMC, in a climb, being bounced around by whatever the hell is happening inside that cloud, fumbling to find foggles is not particularly easy/safe.
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Which is why hoods always worked better. :)

IMHO Foggles are kinda the Johnny Come Lately (since they didn’t exist when I started) gadget that is pretty “meh” as a view limiting device.

I’m not QUITE to the point of saying only a Francis Hood should be used — like @jesse will torture people with if he suspects they’re peeking — but solid plastic without letting ANY light cues in, including shadows off of the aircraft pillars, makes you focus on the panel 100%.

They’re ugly, you look like a dork, and they’re easy to push up and down, they don’t fall off your head or get lost on the floor, and they’re more effective.

Foggles reinvented the wheel — badly. Until you have enough experience to ignore what they let through, the real hoods kick their butt.

The glasses clip-on foggles... worse. Don’t even get me started on those. Full peripheral vision...
 
Those horse hood view limiting devices are a pain. When using them I spend most of the flight fighting to keep them on my head as well as trying to keep them in position so I can see the instruments without leaning my head so far back I can see the rear seats. And they are so much easier to ''sneak'' with when checking the heading indicator to the compass....:eek:

Folding a chart and sticking it under my headset works better.

When in training I had a set of foggles that I had taped to stop any peripheral vision cues. The only thing I could not stop was the brightness of the sun telling me if I was turning or any other movement.

If foggles are worn upside down, are the now considered a VFR training device? :rolleyes:
 
wayne said:
I now have almost 100 hours of IMC time in my logbook. We've made lots of flights that were simply not happening VFR, or were scud running at best. The family is just used to breaking out and seeing a runway in front of us now. Often that's around 1,000' AGL, but sometimes that's under 500' AGL.
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If I lived in an area like a lot of you all, I think I could wrap it up faster. In my area, there are literally maybe TWO flyable IMC days a year. Flew through rain a couple of days ago at 5500 MSL, but bases were at like 20,000:p

I'll probably wrap it up once works gets a little easier.
 
Does anyone have feedback on a Francis hood?
francisifrhood.jpg
 
bflynn said:
Does anyone have feedback on a Francis hood?
francisifrhood.jpg
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I don't, but I did get the cheapo cardboard one and it works really well IMO. It did a better job of blocking my view while being comfortable than the Foggles. The Foggles are more comfortable though, they don't block the view as well. I used the cardboard for training and the Foggles for the checkride. ;)
 
danhagan said:
If I lived in an area like a lot of you all, I think I could wrap it up faster. In my area, there are literally maybe TWO flyable IMC days a year. Flew through rain a couple of days ago at 5500 MSL, but bases were at like 20,000:p

I'll probably wrap it up once works gets a little easier.
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One possibility...

Airplanes are made to go places.

You can hunt down IMC with a few hours added to a flight usually... not always I know.

We rarely see actual here. Flying to NE to train with Jesse, we did 7+ hours in a matter of days.

This assumes you can find a CFI elsewhere or local who isn’t scared of doing that... a whole different problem coming from a 300 day a year VMC State. :)
 
Flying with foggles - the very limited amount of time that I did - seemed to give me an unpleasant feeling, which got better if took things nice as slow (changing course, descending, etc.) Thought it was just something I'd have to de sensitize myself to as part of training. I wonder if using the traditional hood / visor would be better?

Now, what really got me uncomfortable was when the CFII told me to put the foggles on, shut my eyes and lower my head while she put the plane into an unusual attitudes for me to recover. I could do that only a few time before I needed a quite break.
 
danhagan said:
If I lived in an area like a lot of you all, I think I could wrap it up faster. In my area, there are literally maybe TWO flyable IMC days a year. Flew through rain a couple of days ago at 5500 MSL, but bases were at like 20,000:p
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Yep, very different weather environments. I've heard out in the southwest that it's IMC anytime there's less than 50 miles of visibility. ;) I was shocked how bad it looks at 4 to 5 miles of visibility in VFR when I was doing my PPL training. That was in a 172 and I was thinking how bad that would be with two fast planes heading towards each other. :eek:

I know people have hundreds of hours and are VFR only, even in the southeast. I just don't know how they do it. I have made lots of trips that either started or ended with a 500' ceiling, or lower. Occasionally I'll start and end with IMC.

Maybe I'm an oddball; friends and family would put money on that. :oops: :D

denverpilot said:
One possibility...

Airplanes are made to go places.

You can hunt down IMC with a few hours added to a flight usually... not always I know.
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Yep, lots of IMC in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi (more eastern than western) and Louisiana tomorrow. I've got an Angel Flight mission scheduled and was concerned about t-storm forecasts, but now it looks like it will mostly be IFR weather with t-storms after I'm back. I might even get lucky and get three approaches in that count to currency. :cool:
 
Zeldman said:
If foggles are worn upside down, are the now considered a VFR training device?
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Somebody should make a parody video of VFR Voggles.... oh wait...

Don't give up now! Get that rating.
 
Since this thread has fully detoured into view-limiting device opinions, I'll put this one out there as the one that I found to be the best of all worlds.

Meet The Hoody (I'm sure this is not the first time it's been mentioned)

Luckily, looking cool is not the point of a view limiting device. Like others, foggles gave me a headache. A full hood was a pain to get situated and to take off. This thing stays put, does not let you cheat (unless you decide to), and pulls off in an instant. I highly recommend.

OP, glad to hear you got back out there. Keep plugging away. It's another tool in the bag and I bet you enjoy it soon.
 
denverpilot said:
Francis Hood
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That's what I use. I hate it. It's easy to knock it so it's hard to see the panel. Wearing it, your head set, and a head lamp at night and you have all this crap on your head. Actual IFR is a lot easier than using it. But for me, that's the point.
 
wayne said:
I've heard out in the southwest that it's IMC anytime there's less than 50 miles of visibility. ;)
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Yeah, you oughta hear the pilots complain on the radio....:lol::lol:

Today the vis is 99+. Yesterday it was 1 1/2 snow.
 
OP - Thanks for sharing this story. As an early-ish instrument student, your humility in sharing it is very helpful.

I wanted to give my review of the Francis hood. I used foggles for about 5 hours and had no trouble with controlling the airplane. I just did my first lesson the the Francis hood and had a hard time even flying straight and level. I was staring at the AI and it showed a slight turn to the left, but I just couldn't believe it (I guess that's what they call the leans). I felt way more frantic and all over the place. Of course I have no idea how it compares to actual IMC, but I can tell you that I personally found it way better than the foggles. I had no idea how much input I was getting with the foggles (I would have sworn that it was minimal) until I switched.
 
Just asking.... Have you ever just strapped in with an IFR rated pilot on an IFR flight in IMC? You would be getting into instrument flying with smaller bites at it.
 
Doesn’t look like you could wear glasses with that
 
Made my own from a pair of wrap-around safety glasses, a couple short pieces of painter's tape to mask out the clear area, and a rattle can of black lacquer. Total investment about $5. Better than any commercial device I have ever seen, short of a sim with the screen turned off.
 
My first time in actual was a low ceiling takeoff. I swore we were climbing to the moon. Until the CFI noted were were in a slight bank and descending 250fpm. I thought...WTF. Stick with it...you will enjoy the utility of the rating and be a much better pilot for it.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Today was better. Instructor got us a block and we spent 2 hours in it just flying. I think having a project (being on an approach in busy airspace) yesterday was a big part of it.
Today there was no task at hand, just get in, and start following headings, climb up to this, then turn to this heading, etc.
Yesterday we were really trying to land the plane and then IMC. Today was lets just go up and be in it.

I got micro-focused on the AI, HSI, and Altimeter. Helped that we were on center vs. Approach as it was much quieter.
I am going to go do this a few more times.

One major difference was slowing the plane down. We were more in the 120kt area today and I think that made a difference as well.
I don't recall even looking out the window once today. I am exhausted but feel better than yesterday.

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I came back to this thread hoping to read exactly what you posted. Congratulations on a great day in the clouds! I'm glad you got back out there. Looking forward to the write up when you get your IR rating completed.
 
I'm sure this will rankle @SixPapaCharlie's feathers a bit, but here it goes.

Why you taking pictures when you're supposed to be under the hood or in actual IMC?

Turn off the cameras. Get it right. Film later.
 
Ravioli said:
I'm sure this will rankle @SixPapaCharlie's feathers a bit, but here it goes.

Why you taking pictures when you're supposed to be under the hood or in actual IMC?

Turn off the cameras. Get it right. Film later.
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Lol ouch. Day-um son! :)

I assumed he took that after he gave the aircraft back to the CFI or the camera was locked down and running and totally ignored and you just dump it and take a still frame from the video later. Far away from the airplane.

I definitely wouldn’t lump him in with certain Internet CFIs who are babbling to three cameras while doing pattern work... while still pretending to teach students about “sterile cockpit”... quite yet.

“Do as I say not as I do... I need in-flight videos to market my ground school products!”
 
I recently switched to ASA Hood. Why? Glad you asked.

If you want to find out how it feels to fly IMC in open cockpit plane, try wearing foggles with a mask on.
#hate2020
 
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