Not wanting to fly in IMC

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blmoore

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Brian Moore
I got my instrument ticket in December 2005. I have kept current since then, with at least the required number of approaches, holds and tracking, but I have only flown twice in IMC. Once was with my instructor while working on my rating. The second time was in September 2006, when I was single-pilot IFR, and found freezing levels below what they were forecast to be (no real consequences, as the only thing that froze up was the static port).

It is really not common to find flyable IMC in the Colorado Front Range. According to the Chamber of Commerce, we have over 300 sunny days per year. B) If we are less than VFR, it's usually rain combined with thunderstorms, or is snow.

So, given my whopping 3.1 hours of actual instrument time, out of ~310 total hours, I find that I'm really not comfortable with flying in less than VFR conditions. I do have about 70 hours of simulated instrument and simulator time, and have no problems flying under the hood.

Has anyone else been in this situation, and how did you get more comfortable with flying in IMC?

Even if you haven't been in this situation, and have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,
Brian
 
Without a capable airframe I wouldn't fly IMC with those conditions either, especially around cumulogranite.

I suggest trying some flat land stratus to get comfortable, starting with some fairly high bases. Once the initial anxiety is overcome, work towards lower minimums. Get an qualified CFII or high time ATP to ride along for a while.

I wouldn't sweat it. Unless you're flying for a paycheck, staying out of icy, thundering, low IMC is not too hard to do and still get plenty of utility out of a plane, and your ticket.
 
Front range IMC is singularly inhospitable. Not that wintertime in the midwest is much better.....but usually for you guys it's levle 5 or worse. No such thing as a warm front with a deck from 800 to 8000 agl. Sigh.
 
blmoore said:
It is really not common to find flyable IMC in the Colorado Front Range. According to the Chamber of Commerce, we have over 300 sunny days per year. B) If we are less than VFR, it's usually rain combined with thunderstorms, or is snow.
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That's the price you pay for living in such a nice place. ;)

I'll agree with you, though. The weather here is usually pretty nice until it is terrible (like this weekend). There's not really a whole lot of in-between as far as small airplanes in IMC are concerned. I didn't have much time in actual until I flew airplanes with radar and deice.

Consequently, it's not surprising that you are leery of flying in IMC around here. We occasionally have low stratus in the mornings but it's usually a pretty shallow layer. It sometimes lasts longer in eastern Colorado, especially in the Platte and Arkansas River valleys. However that might be a hard thing to plan on if you need to schedule ahead.
 
Interestingly, the other night I talked with a Cirrus pilot and his friend who landed at IPT having come from Colorado, and we were talking about actual IMC. He said that he got his IR without having any hours in actual, and we agreed that should be illegal. He was stating similar issues to what you stated.

I'm not at all familiar with Colorado weather so I can't give you much advice there, but I'm a new instrument pilot, and so maybe a few ideas.

I've only had one trip so far during which I encountered actuals (but I also only got my ticket a bit over a week ago). That trip worked out well. It was a day that was predominantly VMC, with some clouds around in various places. On my flights, I managed to get a total of about an hour of IMC. This was a good experience, as the longest individual time I had in IMC was about 10 minutes. The clouds existed, but it wasn't "hard" IMC, so I could get an out if I really wanted, and I knew it wouldn't be for any long period of time.

Getting experiences like this is what I would say would be good to start. Testing the waters and such before you get into anything major. Of course, this is dependent on what you airframe and weather provide you (stupid weather...).
 
Brian, I feel your pain. I did my instrument training in New England and got plent of actual, but out here in Colorado, it's a very different story.

But notice that we had flyable IMC here (pretty low) just this past weekend! And we had flyable IMC with "comfortable" ceilings for initial exposure and "comfort practice" about a month ago.

If you are uncomfortable going into that alone at this point, it's understandable. Short of moving away, here are some strategies to get a bit more comfortable:

Find a CFI who is comfortable in IMC. Those times when we have flyable IMC, call him. He won't be busy.

To take more advantage of the above, be more aware of our weather patterns. There are certain times during the year when our plains have more flyable IMC than others. In upslope conditions, COS sometimes has a cloud bank right over the airport when other places are clear. Goodland in May and June seems to have a decent share of morning IMC.

If you are away on vacation in an area that has IMC, hook up with an instructor there (It doesn't always work - I went to a conference in Seattle, hooked up with a CFI just to get in the famous suoup and we had severe clear all week :rolleyes:)
 
blmoore said:
Has anyone else been in this situation, and how did you get more comfortable with flying in IMC?Brian
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Brian, probably the only way to get more comfortable with flying in IMC is, well, to fly in IMC.

Are you just concerned with your low time or are you really uncomfortable? If you're uncomfortable than you probably need some time with a CFI. If it's just the time in your logbook, then you need to look for the opportunity. When that one day comes along where the weather is doable IMC, you need to be ready. Take the day off from work if that's the day, file to somewhere and do it. Then the next opportunity do the same.

In the meantime whenever you go somewhere be sure to file, even if it's CAVU. When you get to your destination decline the visual and ask for an approach. Everytime. That way the procedure part of the IFR flight is secondary, and all you have to concentrate on are the gauges.

Have fun.
 
midlifeflyer said:
But notice that we had flyable IMC here (pretty low) just this past weekend! And we had flyable IMC with "comfortable" ceilings for initial exposure and "comfort practice" about a month ago.
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Yep, and that's specifically what caused me to start this topic! I had really wanted to take advantage of the weather this weekend. Saturday was out due to the thunderstorms and prior commitments, but Friday and Sunday were both good. Yet, I found myself coming up with excuses not to do it. Sunday would have been perfect to fly up north to, say, Scottsbluff, NE. However, Cheyenne was down to VV001, so I said "nope, that's an option along the way that won't be available." However, I guessed that the fog there would burn off, and that's exactly what happened. It would have been a really good time to take that flight, yet I didn't.

I'm going to have to just do it next time. I might even have to search out the days when we have the thermals topping out at 8000 MSL or so, and deal with the turbulence.

I work with a couple of different CFIIs, one who is an ATP, but they are sometimes difficult to schedule on short notice.

Thanks for the responses, folks!
 
Lance F said:
Are you just concerned with your low time or are you really uncomfortable? If you're uncomfortable than you probably need some time with a CFI. If it's just the time in your logbook, then you need to look for the opportunity. When that one day comes along where the weather is doable IMC, you need to be ready. Take the day off from work if that's the day, file to somewhere and do it. Then the next opportunity do the same.

In the meantime whenever you go somewhere be sure to file, even if it's CAVU. When you get to your destination decline the visual and ask for an approach. Everytime. That way the procedure part of the IFR flight is secondary, and all you have to concentrate on are the gauges.

Have fun.
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I think the low time is my primary concern, coupled with my near-icing experience on the first time I went up by myself in IMC.

I do file IFR in VMC from time to time, but I usually take the visuals. I do fly approaches, both under the hood and just while I'm flying around, so I am comfortable with the procedures. While working on my ratings I have studied weather far more than any other topic, and have never missed a single weather-related question on a written or during the orals.

So, I do really believe my issues stem simply from lack of experience in actual IMC. I need to take advantage of those few days when we do have flyable IMC, or I need to take a trip outside of Colorado and find it!

Thanks all for talking me through this. It's helping me understand what I need to address.

-Brian
 
blmoore said:
I think the low time is my primary concern, coupled with my near-icing experience on the first time I went up by myself in IMC.
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A bad experience early in IMC can reduce your confidence.

Best way to get back on the horse is to go with an experienced instructor in ever more challenging conditions.

Then go with another pilot (not necessarily a CFI), who can held reduce the workload, but who won't be your bailout button.

Successful Experiences = Confidence
 
At some point you need to be sitting alone in your airplane on the ramp, clearance received, with nothing but IMC around you. You need to take a deep breath (maybe two), say to yourself you will trust nothing but the gauges, push the PTT and say "Nxxxxx ready to taxi".
 
Pretty common problem out west really, not much IMC, and what there is, isn't really a good idea to enter with a light aircraft.
 
Brian,
Lance F is right on target in his post. I got my instrument in Denver many years ago (before you needed a transponder). No actual during training. I went to Ohio for Thanksgiving that year and the return trip was all actual. That was the trip I needed to learn a little about the inside of a cloud.

BTW I took a ground school course from a retired TWA pilot. One of his jobs was to evaluate the logbooks of perspective pilots. He looked at lots and found your actual instrument time equals 5% of your total. It takes a long time for anyone to build actual. I have 4100TT and 200 actual.
 
dmccormack said:
Then go with another pilot (not necessarily a CFI), who can held reduce the workload, but who won't be your bailout button.
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I'd be careful with this. For me, if I go up with another pilot to reduce workload, that pilot and I have to have worked out ahead of time what each one is going to do. Furthermore, that pilot best be familiar with the aircraft, and/or the functions that he or she is going to need to perform in order to reduce your workload.

A few months back, I flew into New York to see some friends. One of the things we did was fly around the area. It was a bit of a marginal day, but a very cool day to be flying. Because it's New York and things are busier, the guy sitting right seat (an instrument pilot who had about 3x the number of hours I did at that time) said he would help reduce my workload and operate the radios. Ok, I figured I'd give it a shot.

It was a disaster. He had no idea how to use the radio that he'd never seen before, and ended up distracting me and INCREASING my workload because he would screw up the radio, and then I had to fix it back to how it was supposed to be. Then, he would start putting in incorrect frequencies that he misheard. Ater that, I told him to stop and he insisted he was "helping" me. After we landed I made him sit in the back.

The point is, the person needs to be able to ACTUALLY decrease your workload, whatever that may be. Even if it comes to charts, that person needs to be familiar with the charts, know which ones to look for, where to open them to, etc.

Bad experiences I've had aside, I would like to have a good dual pilot flight at some point. With the kind of flying I want to do, I know that it will certainly be helpful to have.
 
I don't know much about the weather in CO, so this could be totally off base.
When I first got my rating my CFII suggested to go up when you had PIREPS for where the tops were, and climb through to "on top" to get used to Single Pilot IFR more and build confidence. I can say for me it worked, I did several flights at first where it was only a few minutes really of "hard" IMC then I was on top. Had a "known" out with the on top (with good PIREPS, and I knew where it was VFR below)
If you can do this, I know it works well for building confidence.

Mark B
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'd be careful with this. For me, if I go up with another pilot to reduce workload, that pilot and I have to have worked out ahead of time what each one is going to do. Furthermore, that pilot best be familiar with the aircraft, and/or the functions that he or she is going to need to perform in order to reduce your workload.
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...which is precisely why I said "with a pilot that can reduce your workload," not someone who will hinder it.

Don't take up know-it-alls, superheroes, brothers-in-law, newbies, or diarrhea mouths.
 
I've felt like this since getting back in the plane after a layoff of many years. Kind of the opposite of your situation. I never had a lot of actual back when, but I found that getting back into flying, and trying to stay safe(not just current) in a plane with basic IFR panel was not going to be possible.

You have the skills and the equipment, but the key is still the ability to handle th workload, and stay ahead of the plane. I found that I couldn't and so, have decided not to fly in IMC at all. If I had another engine, and an AP, or maybe one or the other, I might try to stay current, but there's no way I'll be safe.

Prolly not what you wanted to hear, but that's it for me. Take someone with you I guess, and work your way up from real easy, to progressively harder.
 
dmccormack said:
...which is precisely why I said "with a pilot that can reduce your workload," not someone who will hinder it.
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:yes: We are in vehement agreement, I just wanted to clarify that not anyone qualifies as someone who will reduce your workload. If you've never done it before, you might not realize exactly how it can be problematic and actually increase problems rather than decrease. An example of someone who's good to have is my friend who's been safety pilot for me a number of times or my instructor. They both help reduce my workload (well, sometimes my instructor increases it, but that's on purpose to teach me :) ), and I'll fly with them any day.

Don't take up know-it-alls, superheroes, brothers-in-law, newbies, or diarrhea mouths.
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The useless guy who I made sit in the back was a know-it-all and a superhero... he thought the instrument rating (that he never uses because according to him single pilot IFR is impossible) gave him super human piloting abilities. Yeah, sure it did... :no:
 
We're starting to get into philosophies here. Who knows this may be bounced to the SZ.

However IMHO 1) there is no semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck Instrument Rating and 2) the weather does not know you are only a semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck kind of guy.

It is certainly ok to chose to only fly IFR when the IMC is supposed to be easy. But you da**ed well better be mentally prepared to fly the whole flight in solid IMC with rain and a little turbulence thrown in and then do the approach to minimums. You just may be dealt that.

Instrument flying is not "hard." It's mental. You've got to know the procedures, know your aircraft, have a good scan and trust the gauges.
 
IMHO, there are many, many kinds of IMC. Remember, I don't have much time in soup, but even someone who drives around the country can tell that a forcast of BKN at 6000, tops at 8500 is much different than OVC 700, with embedded thunderstorms, heavy precip, and mod turbulence.

Still, you should be ready to shoot an approach to minimums on each launch, despite what may be easy IMC pickins' in some cases. Note that I agree that in the central and western parts of CO, the easy IMC doesn't come around often. It usually goes from CAVU to spit in the span of a few hours.
 
Brian, I'm kind of in the same boat as you I have about 250 hrs my IR and HP complex but not much need for flyng that has taken me in to IMC. Dan's suggestion is a good one and thats what I do to get more comfortable.
 
markb5900 said:
I don't know much about the weather in CO, so this could be totally off base.
When I first got my rating my CFII suggested to go up when you had PIREPS for where the tops were, and climb through to "on top" to get used to Single Pilot IFR more and build confidence.
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It's off base for Colorado.


  • 320 VFR days a year.
  • Visibilities typically >50 miles (we consider 10 miles or less visibility to be marginal VFR and 5 or less IMC ;) )
  • Clouds tend to be highly unstable towering cumulus or worse with tops in oxygen-required territory beyond the climb capability/service ceiling of many aircraft (high density altitudes)
  • Most days of non-convective IMC occur in the winter when ice will be a significant issue
  • Maybe a dozen days of flyable IMC, 6 of which would fit your description (I was in ones of them with a student a few weeks ago, thank goodness, so he got to see some actual.)
 
Lance F said:
We're starting to get into philosophies here. Who knows this may be bounced to the SZ.

However IMHO 1) there is no semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck Instrument Rating and 2) the weather does not know you are only a semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck kind of guy.

It is certainly ok to chose to only fly IFR when the IMC is supposed to be easy. But you da**ed well better be mentally prepared to fly the whole flight in solid IMC with rain and a little turbulence thrown in and then do the approach to minimums. You just may be dealt that.

Instrument flying is not "hard." It's mental. You've got to know the procedures, know your aircraft, have a good scan and trust the gauges.
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You're right. But that doesn't negate the importance of personal minimums, IFR or VFR nor the effect of experience and comfort in establishing them.

The =choice= of departing into known low IFR conditions is different from the =ability= to continue the flight safely if the forecasts change and you encounter them. Just as the =choice= of departing VFR when the forecasts predict strong surface crosswinds is different from the ability to get home if unforcast strong crosswinds appear.
 
midlifeflyer said:
It's off base for Colorado.


  • 320 VFR days a year.
  • Visibilities typically >50 miles (we consider 10 miles or less visibility to be marginal VFR and 5 or less IMC ;) )
  • Clouds tend to be highly unstable towering cumulus or worse with tops in oxygen-required territory beyond the climb capability/service ceiling of many aircraft (high density altitudes)
  • Most days of non-convective IMC occur in the winter when ice will be a significant issue
  • Maybe a dozen days of flyable IMC, 6 of which would fit your description (I was in ones of them with a student a few weeks ago, thank goodness, so he got to see some actual.)
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What Mark (midlifeflyer) said. I haven't done an instrument approach to my home airport, which is the same as his, all summer. I'll get to do some this fall and winter but a good percentage of those will be in snow or icing conditions.
 
blmoore said:
I got my instrument ticket in December 2005. I have kept current since then, with at least the required number of approaches, holds and tracking, but I have only flown twice in IMC. Once was with my instructor while working on my rating. The second time was in September 2006, when I was single-pilot IFR, and found freezing levels below what they were forecast to be (no real consequences, as the only thing that froze up was the static port).

It is really not common to find flyable IMC in the Colorado Front Range. According to the Chamber of Commerce, we have over 300 sunny days per year. B) If we are less than VFR, it's usually rain combined with thunderstorms, or is snow.

So, given my whopping 3.1 hours of actual instrument time, out of ~310 total hours, I find that I'm really not comfortable with flying in less than VFR conditions. I do have about 70 hours of simulated instrument and simulator time, and have no problems flying under the hood.

Has anyone else been in this situation, and how did you get more comfortable with flying in IMC?

Even if you haven't been in this situation, and have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,
Brian
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Unfortunatly this is sort of a fact of life for most single engine instrument pilots, especially in the western US. Unless you do a lot of Cross country or are flying a Known Ice capable aircraft there just aren't many times that you need an Instrument rating.

Additionally it is probably not a good idea to being doing actual IMC flights without a 2nd pilot or a good Autopilot. Note this is a requirement for Single Engine IFR 135 operations IIRC.

On the other hand, if you stay current, there are those rare times when you need to depart from a fog layer or descend through a low cloud layer the the IR will increase the utility of your aircraft. There is nothing like sitting on the ground waiting for the fog to lift when you know you would be VFR at 300 ft AGL.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
> Additionally it is probably not a good idea to being doing actual IMC flights without a 2nd pilot or a good Autopilot.

Are you saying that IMC flight in a single engine is not safe anywhere or just the
Western part of the US?
 
Walt said:
Brian,
Lance F is right on target in his post. I got my instrument in Denver many years ago (before you needed a transponder). No actual during training. I went to Ohio for Thanksgiving that year and the return trip was all actual. That was the trip I needed to learn a little about the inside of a cloud.

BTW I took a ground school course from a retired TWA pilot. One of his jobs was to evaluate the logbooks of perspective pilots. He looked at lots and found your actual instrument time equals 5% of your total. It takes a long time for anyone to build actual. I have 4100TT and 200 actual.
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A peek at my log book shows 3800 TT and 15 Actual and I am one of those CFII's that looks for any chance I can to do actual. But I think Boise area is simlar to Colorado. Days that you can actually do IMC in light single engine aircraft are rare.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
Walt said:
BTW I took a ground school course from a retired TWA pilot. One of his jobs was to evaluate the logbooks of perspective pilots. He looked at lots and found your actual instrument time equals 5% of your total. It takes a long time for anyone to build actual. I have 4100TT and 200 actual.
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I'm a little ahead of the curve - 1141 TT, 162 actual (and another 82 simulated). But I live and fly in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, where there are lots of opportunities for IMC of the non-convective variety. And some of that time is the 6-12 minutes of layer-busting on the way up or down.

The first 10 minutes of actual in any flight is a little tense for me, as I get my scan going and adjust to the different sensations. It's made tougher by the fact that I fly many different airplanes as a renter - one C182 makes a moaning sound in the vents in actual, while the Diamond Star has an exaggerated roll response to any bumps due to it's long wing and light loading. Once I've been hand-flying for that 10 minutes though, it settles down. I'll usually trade legs with the autopilot enroute, but I always have the autopilot fly the approaches when it's real - I want to stack the deck in my favor as much as possible when I'm close to the ground and precision counts.

To keep fit I fly 95% of practices approaches by hand to keep the skills up, and there have been a couple of times when I've had to fly the real approaches by hand, either because an autopilot wasn't available or because it disconnected (some airplane/autopilot combos have a difficult time maintaining a glideslope/glidepath in mild turbulence).

Personal minimums are for go/no-go decisions, NOT for proficiency levels. You need to be able to fly well enough to handle real weather, or you should pretend you're not instrument rated until you can fly that well once again.
 
brcase said:
Additionally it is probably not a good idea to being doing actual IMC flights without a 2nd pilot or a good Autopilot. Note this is a requirement for Single Engine IFR 135 operations IIRC.
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Only with paying passengers. There are plenty of Part 135 single pilot IFR cargo operations in aircraft without autopilots. In jets even.
 
blmoore said:
I got my instrument ticket in December 2005. I have kept current since then, with at least the required number of approaches, holds and tracking, but I have only flown twice in IMC. Once was with my instructor while working on my rating. The second time was in September 2006, when I was single-pilot IFR, and found freezing levels below what they were forecast to be (no real consequences, as the only thing that froze up was the static port).

It is really not common to find flyable IMC in the Colorado Front Range. According to the Chamber of Commerce, we have over 300 sunny days per year. B) If we are less than VFR, it's usually rain combined with thunderstorms, or is snow.

So, given my whopping 3.1 hours of actual instrument time, out of ~310 total hours, I find that I'm really not comfortable with flying in less than VFR conditions. I do have about 70 hours of simulated instrument and simulator time, and have no problems flying under the hood.

Has anyone else been in this situation, and how did you get more comfortable with flying in IMC?

Even if you haven't been in this situation, and have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,
Brian
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Brian,

I see you've been to plenty of states that have IFR. Just head east and you'll find some..... look for a nice warm front, layers, with ceilings and tops that you're comfortable with and go from there. A few ~500 mile trips in this stuff and you'll feel right at home. If you need, take your CFII with you a time or two.
 
Lance F said:
We're starting to get into philosophies here. Who knows this may be bounced to the SZ.

However IMHO 1) there is no semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck Instrument Rating and 2) the weather does not know you are only a semi/partial/only penetrate high, thin cloud deck kind of guy.

It is certainly ok to chose to only fly IFR when the IMC is supposed to be easy. But you da**ed well better be mentally prepared to fly the whole flight in solid IMC with rain and a little turbulence thrown in and then do the approach to minimums. You just may be dealt that.

Instrument flying is not "hard." It's mental. You've got to know the procedures, know your aircraft, have a good scan and trust the gauges.
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What Lance said. :yes: If you're not comfortable flying an ILS to minimums, you have no business even filing IFR in severe clear.

To the OP: The only way to get more comfortable in IMC is to fly in IMC. Take an instructor if you want. The fewer opportunities you have for IMC, the more important it is to fly on EVERY flyable IFR day you can. :yes:
 
brcase said:
Additionally it is probably not a good idea to being doing actual IMC flights without a 2nd pilot or a good Autopilot. Note this is a requirement for Single Engine IFR 135 operations IIRC.
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midlifeflyer said:
Only with paying passengers. There are plenty of Part 135 single pilot IFR cargo operations in aircraft without autopilots. In jets even.
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Mark is correct. Also, it's single PILOT that requires the autopilot, not single ENGINE:

14 CFR Part 135 said:
§ 135.101 Second in command required under IFR.

Except as provided in §135.105, no person may operate an aircraft carrying passengers under IFR unless there is a second in command in the aircraft.

§ 135.105 Exception to second in command requirement: Approval for use of autopilot system.

(a) Except as provided in §§135.99 and 135.111, unless two pilots are required by this chapter for operations under VFR, a person may operate an aircraft without a second in command, if it is equipped with an operative approved autopilot system and the use of that system is authorized by appropriate operations specifications. No certificate holder may use any person, nor may any person serve, as a pilot in command under this section of an aircraft operated in a commuter operation, as defined in part 119 of this chapter unless that person has at least 100 hours pilot in command flight time in the make and model of aircraft to be flown and has met all other applicable requirements of this part.

(b) The certificate holder may apply for an amendment of its operations specifications to authorize the use of an autopilot system in place of a second in command.

(c) The Administrator issues an amendment to the operations specifications authorizing the use of an autopilot system, in place of a second in command, if—

(1) The autopilot is capable of operating the aircraft controls to maintain flight and maneuver it about the three axes; and

(2) The certificate holder shows, to the satisfaction of the Administrator, that operations using the autopilot system can be conducted safely and in compliance with this part.

The amendment contains any conditions or limitations on the use of the autopilot system that the Administrator determines are needed in the interest of safety.
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Lance F said:
At some point you need to be sitting alone in your airplane on the ramp, clearance received, with nothing but IMC around you. You need to take a deep breath (maybe two), say to yourself you will trust nothing but the gauges, push the PTT and say "Nxxxxx ready to taxi".
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That was effectively me on Friday morning when I left for 6Y9. Granted, the ceilings were 800 (so it was an easy ILS back into IPT if needed), but I knew I was diving into the soup for a good portion of my first leg. Once I got in, I was thick in the soup for the first hour and a half.

The picture I have in the 6Y9 pictures thread that I captioned as "I think I'm going to get some actuals today" is me sitting at the hold short line for runway 12 here at IPT having received my clearance, finished my run-up, first VOR dialed in and identified, ILS dialed in and identified (the instrument departure procedure for runway 12 involves following the back course), a quick prayer, and then my deep breath before hitting the PTT and saying "62G ready for takeoff."
 
Fun wasn't it Ted!
 
I was lucky - during my IR training I got to fly in an impending storm. Convection was off the west, we were out in front of it but I got 1.4hrs in mod turbulence, heavy rain, heavy cumulus. To top it off, I made the witty suggestion, as a joke, that "now would be a great time to practice partial panel." Instructor said "You're right," slapped the soap covers on the instruments, and there I was.

He later said he never would have done that if he wasn't 100% certain of my skills.

It was a great lesson, esp with the wx. No amount of hood can prepare you for the noise, the alternating light/dark, the bouncing.

Doug Stewart, an MCFI, does a "Gnarly East Coast IFR" experience trip or something like that, out of (I think) Orange Co NY. It's like 3 or 5 days flying a C177 on challenging approaches, and seeking out wx. East Coast and Fall = plenty of IFR opportunities. Maybe you could check that out.
 
Doug was seriously injured a couple days ago, taking off in his Cardinal from what sounded like a tight airport. His plane ended up hanging from power line wires. Passenger was hurt worse, but both should recover.

quote=flyersfan31;343878]I was lucky - during my IR training I got to fly in an impending storm. Convection was off the west, we were out in front of it but I got 1.4hrs in mod turbulence, heavy rain, heavy cumulus. To top it off, I made the witty suggestion, as a joke, that "now would be a great time to practice partial panel." Instructor said "You're right," slapped the soap covers on the instruments, and there I was.

He later said he never would have done that if he wasn't 100% certain of my skills.

It was a great lesson, esp with the wx. No amount of hood can prepare you for the noise, the alternating light/dark, the bouncing.

Doug Stewart, an MCFI, does a "Gnarly East Coast IFR" experience trip or something like that, out of (I think) Orange Co NY. It's like 3 or 5 days flying a C177 on challenging approaches, and seeking out wx. East Coast and Fall = plenty of IFR opportunities. Maybe you could check that out.[/quote]
 
wabower said:
Doug was seriously injured a couple days ago, taking off in his Cardinal from what sounded like a tight airport. His plane ended up hanging from power line wires. Passenger was hurt worse, but both should recover.
Click to expand...
That's sobering.
 
Hey Brian and Walt - welcome to the boards!

Brian, where do you fly out of?
 
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