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Chesterfield

Filing Flight Plan
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Chesterfield
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
 
I cant give you info on starting IFR training but congratulations on getting your PPL. I am getting ready for my first bi-annual flight review and almost 300 hours over the 2 years. Im having a blast and Im sure you will too. Have fun for a bit then get working on the IFR. There is a LOT of things to learn VFR first.
 
I would recommend enjoying your newfound freedom for a few months first.

Get some $100 cheeseburgers, and take a friend to someplace very inconvenient by car.

Develop your ADM, be frustrated with weather, celebrate your accomplishments, and THEN, begin IR studies.

After all, you need 50 hrs of Cross Country time before you are eligible for the practical exam. (61.65)
 
Congratulations!

Personally, I flew about 150 hours between earning Private and starting my Instrument training, and I finished IR having just logged all the experience requirements for Commercial. I felt like gaining some experience as a VFR pilot was valuable, and having completed all the requisite cross country PIC time, the time with my CFII was mostly spent flying back-to-back approaches rather than churning away straight-and-level trying to build XC time. If you decide to take a similar route, try to utilize flight following as much as possible - it makes your future IFR communications second nature.

I didn't use a formal ground school for Instrument; in addition to FAA publications, the following resources were valuable:

- Sheppard Air for the written
- PilotEdge Workshops on YouTube
- FlightInsight 'IFR Training' playlist on YouTube
- PilotsCafe IFR Review PDF
- Gary Reeves' book 'Single Pilot IFR Pro Tips' has some decent concepts in it, and a lot of corny BS
- Opposing Bases podcast was helpful in understanding the big picture of operating in the NAS, and what's happening on the controllers' end of the interaction. (I couldn't stand the hosts until I went back and started at episode 1.)
- Hiring a septuagenarian CFII with a ton of experience helped a lot.
 
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As mentioned use time in between to start knocking out the cross country hours. If you have time and want to start studying for the ifr written go for it. There's a lot of brand new info to absorb. Might be good to get that out of the way before you start the flight training portion. And congrats!
 
Congratulations.

If IFR is in your future, it’s never too early to start getting your head in the game. But as a new pilot, there is so very much to learn with your eyes out the window.

The required cross country hours have been mentioned, but I object to the term “knock out.” Makes it sound like just checking the box. Yes, you can do that, but I’ll add that they should be to different places in different directions, using different and longer distances, ideally bringing different challenges. That’s using them to develop experience which will be valuable as you move forward,
 
Chesterfield said:
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Congrats on your PPL!!
Yes any knowledge on IFR is a good idea!!!
 
I suggest enrolling in an online IR ground school and start that process in your non-flying free time. You can run through the video presentations and printed information as many times as you like. I used Gold Seal and have lifetime access to the courses for refreshers. I proceeded with my IR and was checked out 2 mos after my PP checkride; I did have over a year of flying due to a delayed medical certificate though. Regardless, starting a ground school at your leisure via an online course is an excellent prep for when you start your instructed IR training.
 
Congratulations on the PPL

Best advice I got was go fly a lot. The more you fly the more lessons you learn.
Go get aggravated by weather, Get a clearance for a busy Bravo, Get your a$$ handed to you in some turbulence you weren't expecting. Just go fly. Maybe throw in an IFR ground school to start getting a little taste of it, but most of all go have fun.
 
Chesterfield said:
Hello all,

Yesterday I got my PPL and I beyond excited. I am going to have a few weeks off training and just enjoy it with local flights with very conservative personal minimums before jumping into IFR training.

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and start my IFR study immediately and become at least somewhat knowledgeable with IFR procedures prior to my first lesson?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Hold off for a while.. enjoy.. practice landings until you REALLY grease it in
 
It is a good idea to get a head start on your instrument training, but I wouldn't expect to be doing any IFR procedures on your first or second lesson. You have to get power/performance numbers down and basic attitudes first.

One thing that will really help is to fly a lot of VFR cross-country flights using flight following, especially in some challenging airspaces. My experience has been that new instrument students with a lot of flight-following experience get comfortable with IFR communications MUCH faster.

Here's a summary study guide that will be really helpful. Free download, no signup required, and you won't end up on anyone's email list:

goldseal.link

IFR Know It All

Everything you need to know about getting your Instrument Rating!
goldseal.link

.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Congratulations.

If IFR is in your future, it’s never too early to start getting your head in the game. But as a new pilot, there is so very much to learn with your eyes out the window.

The required cross country hours have been mentioned, but I object to the term “knock out.” Makes it sound like just checking the box. Yes, you can do that, but I’ll add that they should be to different places in different directions, using different and longer distances, ideally bringing different challenges. That’s using them to develop experience which will be valuable as you move forward,
Click to expand...
... and if you didn't train at a towered airport and have limited towered airport experience, make them - especially nearby Class C and even B primaries - a priority. And always use flight following.
 
write-stuff said:
One thing that will really help is to fly a lot of VFR cross-country flights using flight following, especially in some challenging airspaces. My experience has been that new instrument students with a lot of flight-following experience get comfortable with IFR communications MUCH faster.
Click to expand...
I swear I started writing mine before I saw yours!
 
Thank you all for your responses. I have read all your comments, such a helpful community. Today I took my first pleasure flight with a passenger, my wife. We went out as the sun came up to make sure it was a nice cool and smooth flight. Honestly a day I will treasure more than my first solo, the Mrs loved it!

I going to enjoy my PPL for a little while before diving right into IMC. That said, where I live we do not get many IMC days a year so I have asked my CFI to reach out when we do get full IMC so I can go ahead and take advantage when it happens.

Thank you write-stuff for the link. Much appreciated.

As for Class C & B airports. I trained at a un-towered field real close to a Class C airport so have been there a few times, but never solo. I have added that to the list of what to do on the next VFR PPL flight. My long solo XC did take me to a Class D airport and I am planning on heading back there again in the near future.

I fly out of KMDD in Midland TX. The Class C I mentioned above is KMAF and the Class D is KSJT. For those who may be local please feel free to recommend other airports in the area that are worth a flight.
 
Chesterfield said:
I fly out of KMDD in Midland TX. The Class C I mentioned above is KMAF and the Class D is KSJT. For those who may be local please feel free to recommend other airports in the area that are worth a flight.
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I don’t know the area but I would be looking for places within a reasonable distance where there is something interesting to do, whether food or fun.

Or just a visit. I have a friend who earned his private last December. In addition to taking trips with his son (he owns an LSA), he gave a challenge to friends in other places - if they buy lunch he’ll fly there. I used to monitor his progress on FlightAware and was amazed at the distances he traveled. I’m sure he has way more than 50 cross country at this point and is beginning instrument training,

You probably don’t have the time for Angel Flight, but you might look at organizations like Pilots n Paws.
 
Get in some flying time, go all over, get lots of tower time, lots of flight following, more time on the radio will help with that portion of the ifr training, Your always talking to someone.

Learn perfect straight and level, perfect timed turns. Etc..

The most important is, just go out and have some fun, ifr training will burn you out.
 
Congrats. I'm still having fun VFR, between PPL and starting IR training... 500 hours and going lol.
 
IFR is a real grind

Maybe I missed it if you are owning or renting

If renting you probably should be strategic unless independently wealthy lol

Good luck
 
I do not own unfortunately! I just rent. I am trying to make all my current VFR flights XC and have already discussed with my CFI on how to make IFR as cost effective as possible.

Glad to be a part of the community, It still does not feel real I can just go and rent a plane and go off on my own exploring!
 
ColinD said:
Congratulations!

Personally, I flew about 150 hours between earning Private and starting my Instrument training, and I finished IR having just logged all the experience requirements for Commercial. I felt like gaining some experience as a VFR pilot was valuable, and having completed all the requisite cross country PIC time, the time with my CFII was mostly spent flying back-to-back approaches rather than churning away straight-and-level trying to build XC time. If you decide to take a similar route, try to utilize flight following as much as possible - it makes your future IFR communications second nature.

I didn't use a formal ground school for Instrument; in addition to FAA publications, the following resources were valuable:

- Sheppard Air for the written
- PilotEdge Workshops on YouTube
- FlightInsight 'IFR Training' playlist on YouTube
- PilotsCafe IFR Review PDF
- Gary Reeves' book 'Single Pilot IFR Pro Tips' has some decent concepts in it, and a lot of corny BS
- Opposing Bases podcast was helpful in understanding the big picture of operating in the NAS, and what's happening on the controllers' end of the interaction. (I couldn't stand the hosts until I went back and started at episode 1.)
- Hiring a septuagenarian CFII with a ton of experience helped a lot.
Click to expand...
I second this. Sheppard air for the ground and I found the Pilot Edge courses exceptional. Do NOT get the Sporty’s videos. The guy on screen is proof of life after death. Zzzzzz.
 
Come on, Rob Reider is a saint!

I used my Ground Instructor credentials to create an account for Sportys CFI Portal after I had already passed my IRA written exam, so I was able to access all their ground school videos free of charge. More information seldom hurts, so I did watch their Instrument ground school as a refresher. It felt kind of disjointed, and seemed to skip past the '10,000 foot view' of flying IFR in the NAS. I put myself in the shoes of a new IFR student and tried to imagine starting from scratch with Sportys, and I would've been pretty confused. My impression was that the PilotEdge workshops provided a basic framework upon which to build, and then delved into more specific scenarios and minutia later. For filling in gaps in knowledge regarding specific topics, FlightInsight is incredible - their videos are short and digestible, and the illustrations are great. FlightInsight also does a great job of striking a balance between the broad concept and the granular details.

Anyway... I used Sportys ground school for Private and felt like it was a much better product. I'm sure they sell a lot more Private ground school subscriptions than Instrument, so it's hard to fault them for focusing their energy there.
 
Congrats on the PPl!

Congrats also on wanting to get the instrument rating. It will give you so many more XC opportunities, and make you an even better pilot overall.

Instrument rating is as hard and will take as long as a PPL.

Great that your taking time to enjoy your PPL before getting back into training.

Suggest always use Flight Following to get used to talking to ATC.

Get your finances in order to pay for the training.

I like the idea of renting for your training - let others worry about having a plane maintained and ready for you to train in.
 
I'd recommend using your PPL to take some long XC trips to gain real life experience with flight planning, weather avoidance and en-route decision making, and working with ATC. Use radar advisories on every flight to get used to working the ATC system. And fly into some Class B and C airspace, too. Being comfortable with ATC is going to make IFR training much easier.
 
Thank you for all your replies. I have another add on question I hope you can help with.

My next passenger will be the old man. I am really excited to take him flying, he has never been in a GA aircraft before so I hope he will enjoy it!

We are meeting out of town and I have arranged to rent a plane with a local school, the schools policy is that all new renters with the school must fly with a CFI. As a new PPL at an unfamiliar airport with busier airspace than I have experienced I have no issues flying with and paying for a CFI!

This will be my first time with a passenger in the back, I understand that the handling characteristics will feel different from my studies. What are your real world experiences of first time carrying a passenger in the back?
 
Chesterfield said:
This will be my first time with a passenger in the back, I understand that the handling characteristics will feel different from my studies. What are your real world experiences of first time carrying a passenger in the back?
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Basically what you experience when you fly solo instead of a CFI, but in the other direction. Your take-off acceleration is going to feel slower (because it is, due to moving more mass with the same power) and your take-off roll will be longer. Climb performance will be less. More weight in the back will move the CG aft, so your rotation will feel a bit different and you may find that the plane handles a bit differently in terms of control feel.

Nothing dramatic, but the extra weight and CG shift do make a few differences. Think those changes through and why they occur, then confirm when you actually fly. Now imagine loading the plane to max weight with that CG even further aft. How would that feel? All part of increasing your aviation knowledge and experience!

My first passenger was my best friend. He was a little freaked out by checklists, as he assumed I should have it all memorized by now. Crazy busy day at KCOS. Radar broke somehow, so ATC were losing their minds and cleared me for an immediate take-off with a "get the hell out of my airspace" tone. 100ft above the ground on the initial climb-out, my friend announces that he is afraid of heights and never told me. Mentally, I repurposed my throttle hand as a potential passenger-punching hand, but he did fine. Good flight. Tasty burger at KPUB. He enjoyed the flight.
 
Chesterfield said:
This will be my first time with a passenger in the back, I understand that the handling characteristics will feel different from my studies. What are your real world experiences of first time carrying a passenger in the back?
Click to expand...
When I was doing primary training, I would have my student’s partner join us for a flight. It accomplished several things. The different feel for the pilot with the change in balance is one. Developing confidence for the passenger so they would feel comfortable flying with their partner later is a big one.

The side benefit was the pilot learning better coordination. In one, my student’s wife joined us. I gave her a rolled up newspaper with instructions to hit her hubby in the head if she felt her butt slide sideways,
 
So…… you had the student’s wife in the airplane. Did you video when the husband got the data for the weight and balance calculation? :p
 
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