VFR stuck on top, a confession

[Chip Sylverne]

To the OP, who took an (uninformed) risk, and had to subsequently descend through the clouds, I offer this sobering statistic: Your life expectancy after flight into IMC is less than two minutes! The litany of VFR only pilots who stray (inadvertantly) in to IMC - then DIED, in a very long list.

An autopilot, for such an inexperienced pilot, (in IMC) is akin to training wheels on a bicycle ridden on the freeway...AT NIGHT!

This statement makes absolutely no sense. Which is preferable, to die in 90 seconds because you can't make a 180 degree turn without a death spiral, or turn on the a/p that can?

Training wheels? More like life line.



Yeah, I know, Stay out of IMC in the first place. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...and a non rated pilot using an a/p to intentionally fly into imc is just plain stupid. But mistakes happen, and don't need to cost lives.

 

[j1b3h0]

Automation, employed without brains is no less lethal. To me, the real issue the OP had was with ADM. It's a hard skill to learn and hard to teach. I wish I could have learned it without having made so many poor decisions. I highly recommend the AOPA's computer course on Aeronautical Decision Making. It's a good start for anyone wanting to learn.

Autopilots, glass cockpits, moving maps, deicing equipment, GPS, turbos, etc, don't make an airplane safe...only a good pilot does.

 

[rottydaddy]

Scattered became broken and finally overcast.

Did this happen so quickly you couldn't turn around, or descend in the clear and just deal with the turbulence? :wink2:

I had flight following, requested a radar descent to get down through the clouds. Acted like I knew what I was doing, did not tell controllers I was non-instrument rated (plane is equipped /A). Carb heat and pitot heat on, OAT was above freezing.

Two mistakes here: first, unless you did not have enough fuel to get somewhere clear, this was not necessary. Safety is supposed to trump agendas.
Second, assuming a descent in IMC is necessary, it's better for all concerned if you fess up and let ATC help you with this as a non-IR pilot. they can't help you fly the descent, but they can make sure you have plenty of room to do it, by diverting other traffic. Other VFR pilotsnearby , if they are using the frequency, will also have a better chance of avoiding you as you come out of the bottom, even if you don't end up where you planned to. Perhaps you lied because you realized you'd already shown poor judgement by continuing above a solid layer? If so, that's good- if you remember for next time. But again, "never lie when the truth will do" is a useful motto in a situation like this. You'd only get in trouble if you had an accident, and that could happen whether or not you pretend to be IR or not. Wind up dead, and it really doesn't matter anyway. So why not tell the truth, if it will possibly add some safety?

Lesson reaffirmed, obey the attitude indicator. Your body lies to you.

Well, yeah... this is covered in the hood portion of the PPASEL training, and kudos for remembering that. But the most important thing you should take away from this experience is: just because it's legal to fly over solid cloud cover or fog without an IR, doesn't mean it's smart. You did OK with this situation once it was fully developed, but you also had some good luck.
You are now at that crossroads that so many pilots have reached- your options are to say "boy, that was dumb, never again!" or "I don't see what the big deal is... all those pilots who comprise the majority of fatalities every year due to flight into IMC without an IR must just not be as awesome as me. Heck, I don't even need an instrument rating, as long as I make sure my destination is in VMC!" Many have chosen the latter... and unfortunately, some of them are still alive and flying around out there.

Please make the right choice, even if you don't value your own life very much... IFR pilots in those clouds, and scaredy-cats like me who'd rather cruise low in the bumps than risk getting stuck on top (or glider pilots hanging out just below cloud base) really don't want to ever see you coming straight at us out of a cloud, out of control.

 

[steingar]

Your flying is also very much recreational, the long trips you do are quite infrequent, and you're not flying aircraft that are fast, complex, or have much in the way of systems, especially in hard IMC.

That describes a fairly large portion of GA.

Hand flying 6-10 hours in a day gets annoying. Doing it multiple times a month, yeah, gets more annoying still. Then add in getting something that has a little speed to it and more complex systems that require monitoring, more annoying still...

One of these days you'll realize that most pilots don't fly diagonally across the country to rescue dogs in antique twins several times a month. I suspect most pilots fly recreationally, and don't routinely spend hours on end it the clag.

...especially when you end up with some complex routing in hard IMC and reroutes (this does happen more in the northeast than any other area I've flown).

Now you've actually made a good case for an AP in the East versus the Midwest.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Automation, employed without brains is no less lethal. To me, the real issue the OP had was with ADM. It's a hard skill to learn and hard to teach. I wish I could have learned it without having made so many poor decisions. I highly recommend the AOPA's computer course on Aeronautical Decision Making. It's a good start for anyone wanting to learn.

Autopilots, glass cockpits, moving maps, deicing equipment, GPS, turbos, etc, don't make an airplane safe...only a good pilot does.

All good points,especially the part about adm being difficult to teach, and hard to learn. Which means mistakes will be continue to be made. Also agreed the most essential piece of safety equipment is the pilot. As a friend of mine used to say " that sure say's easy, but does real hard".

But that also leaves the question of how to best help prevent the inevitable mistake from being lethal. Green pilots panic,forget their training, or may have been poorly trained to begin with. A cheap, simple wing leveler can help buy time to re-engage the brain, to find a way out, talk to atc, fess up and get help.

The primary thing preventing it being cheap in certificated aircraft is the FAA.

 

[LearDriver]

The OP really made a huge mistake by not communicating to the controller the reality of the situation. Giving up that valuable resource was really short sided. Worrying more about the implications over being in a place that has conditions present that you are not qualified or current for than operating as safely as possible shows a level of incompetence as a pilot. FAR 91.3 was your get out of trouble card.

My worry is that too many pilots live through these type of events and then feel like the are more skilled than they really are when in reality they are just luckier than they deserve to be.

 

[skidoo]

The OP really made a huge mistake by not communicating to the controller the reality of the situation. Giving up that valuable resource was really short sided. Worrying more about the implications over being in a place that has conditions present that you are not qualified or current for than operating as safely as possible shows a level of incompetence as a pilot. FAR 91.3 was your get out of trouble card.

My worry is that too many pilots live through these type of events and then feel like the are more skilled than they really are when in reality they are just luckier than they deserve to be.

Maybe the OP did not make a mistake at all, but got exactly what he wanted by being a troll, posting something fake and getting many pages of hot discussion responses. No one has called him on that yet. Looks like he made only one post.

 

[bbchien]

Maybe the OP did not make a mistake at all, but got exactly what he wanted by being a troll, posting something fake and getting many pages of hot discussion responses. No one has called him on that yet. Looks like he made only one post.

Checkout post #81.
I don't think he's a troll.

This board is getting as bad as the red board.

 

[skidoo]

Checkout post #81.
I don't think he's a troll.

OK, I missed that one... Even if he was a troll, it did bring out some good discussion.

 

[p1l0t]

It's irrelevant whether he trolled or not. It is a great thread I have been following. If it was real more power to him for sharing this with us, that takes courage. We can all learn from each others mistakes. You can't possibly live long enough to try them all for yourself.

<---<^>--->

 

[Ted]

That describes a fairly large portion of GA.

It describes a fairly small percentage of the hours flown in GA. Remember, GA represents Cubs up to G-Vs. But even if you want to stick to the piston world, the piston freight dogs (or in my case, dog freight) are going to be putting on way more hours than the recreational pilots.

One of these days you'll realize that most pilots don't fly diagonally across the country to rescue dogs in antique twins several times a month. I suspect most pilots fly recreationally, and don't routinely spend hours on end it the clag.

One of these days you'll realize that GA extends beyond Cherokees.

Nick said he didn't get the autopilot. I simply explained why it is useful, and why certain segments like it. The last time I flew from Texas to Maine in the 310 (in one day, and after Maine it was back to PA). I hand flew the whole way. Why? Because I felt like it.

Now you've actually made a good case for an AP in the East versus the Midwest.

Glad to know I can be of service.

 

[Doggtyred]

Something that MAY be of assistance in getting out of a pickle in the future.. is that I've noticed that big holes in overcast seem to appear over large bodies of water... like lakes and bays. Pay attention and see if thats the case.. and what seasons it may be the case.

Its best not to get stuck in the first place, but someone clued me in on that little pearl over 10 years ago, and in my region it was reliable enough to plan on (your region may not).. Of course, he was an IFR pilot and he used that pearl to game the system. He knew he could depart a busy terminal area VFR under a layer, transit a few miles to the waterfront environment, and climb through the hole and go on his way.

Why? Busy airspace, vectors, climb limits.. etc.. It was efficient and expedient to depart and climb out without having to be vectored all over. If he got in a pickle, he had the rating to fall back on.

As a VFR only guy, treat this and other pearls like a truck with 4WD... you dont use the 4WD to get off INTO trouble intentionally.. you only use it to get OUT of it when inadverdent stuff happens...

 

[Chip Sylverne]

http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/training/fits/research/media/Det_App_Lvl_Atm.pdf

For those who are interested, the above is a link to FAA's FITS research on the appropriate level and use of cockpit automation. It's long, fairly dry and definitely not light reading, but the conclusion is basically as long as a pilot does not allow stick and rudder skills to atrophy, the use of an autopilot makes flying safer because it frees the pilot to manage other aspects of the flight, to monitor changes in weather, position, navigational requirements and the condition of the aircraft.
The recommendation is that the use of automation in conjunction with appropriate training in its useshould be encouraged. For those who want to cut right to the chase, the conclusion begins on page 37.

 

[bbchien]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3kREPMzMLk

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Excellent presentation. I think the difference between the paper and presentation lies in the 135 pilots as automation managers, where the paper aims to have the 91 pilot use automation, such that he has, as a tool to assist his flight management. Automation manager suggests a focus on systems within the airplane, while flight management includes the airplane and external environment. The traps, however, remain the same.

Having said that, these guys are a long ways away from the types of vfr into imc accidents that you find in the Nall report. When your plate is full simply flying the airplane for those first hundred hours cross country, it's understandable how the weather can be changing around you, different from the forecast, going unnoticed until it's too late. You've said it yourself in reference to IFR training, at the beginning, your plate may be full with tasks, but with time and experience, the plate seemingly gets larger. Automation can speed that process, provided flying skills remain sharp. Not a crutch, but a tool.

All things in balance.

Now if we could only get the FAA to bring the certification process from 1940 to the 21st century.

 

[j1b3h0]

Back when commuter airlines flew 19 seat turboprops and there were one too many crashes, (think Federico Pena) the usual brilliant minds quickly legislated in-floor emergency lighting, TCAS and Ground Proximity warning, thereby rendering those airplanes obsolete, overnight. The running joke amongst the pilots of said airplanes was that we'd gladly trade all that superfluous stuff for an autopilot. You're right, auto pilots increase situational awareness. That point aside, we were better pilots because we had to be.

 

[denverpilot]

I'm still sorry we exported Fred to the rest of the Country. Prior to running for the Denver mayorship, he didn't allow anyone to call him Federico. He needed the Latino vote. Seriously.

His family's involvement in the land sale and minority-owned-business contractor scams during the build of DIA are also legendary.

The famous mayor who tried to save the city money by running trash trucks up and down side streets instead of buying snowplows.

A friend's dad who worked for the State in boiler maintenance nicknamed Denver's potholes "Peñolas" until the day he died, after that silliness.

 

[Everskyward]

Back when commuter airlines flew 19 seat turboprops and there were one too many crashes, (think Federico Pena) the usual brilliant minds quickly legislated in-floor emergency lighting, TCAS and Ground Proximity warning, thereby rendering those airplanes obsolete, overnight. The running joke amongst the pilots of said airplanes was that we'd gladly trade all that superfluous stuff for an autopilot. You're right, auto pilots increase situational awareness. That point aside, we were better pilots because we had to be.

On the other hand I was happy about the mandate for TCAS and TAWS (terrain) in older turboprops and jets. If not for the rule they would not have been installed in many of the airplanes I flew. I remember the days without.

 

[AdamZ]

To the OP, thanks for posting your experience. I didn't see anyone ask why you didn't turn around rather than descend through the layer. So consider it asked by me, that was really the first thing that popped into my mind.

I make it a point to take all students up at least once in "VFR conditions."
Once they see what 3 mile vis looks like, they decide not to fly just because it's "VFR conditions."

And you should know. Heading out to KUNV or Latrobe from the east around 5M on a summer day over the ridges blech! They call it VFR but it sure don't look anything like VFR

Geico is right, I'm just a big chicken who should stay on the ground.

Hope that was tongue in cheek because I've see you take the sooper yankee up in some winds where I thought man she has some major ones! I've also seen you make some darn good decisions like when leaving wings last year.

 

[Unregistered]

To the OP, thanks for posting your experience. I didn't see anyone ask why you didn't turn around rather than descend through the layer. So consider it asked by me, that was really the first thing that popped into my mind.

Turning around I would've run out of gas before getting clear of undercast.

 

[Anthony]

Turning around I would've run out of gas before getting clear of undercast.

Boy that brings back memories. I had made a flight of about 2 hours, and then decided not to top off before going back. As my plane has a 5 hour range, and I had a tailwind, I thought three hours of fuel for an 1.5 hour flight back would be plenty. Well I got on top of a pretty solid layer with the occassional hole. It was getting late, and darker, there was unforecasted haze from a fire in Canada so vis was very bad. See the chain of events starting to happen? I called up flight service and checked Metars along my route and at my desination. All were clearing up, with high ceilings and no overcast so I pressed on, made made sure there was still a hole to go through here or there if needed. But, I was kicking myself for not topping off, and having even more flexibility to turn around or divert elsewwhere.

The layer dissapeared as I got closer to my home airport, but the vis was still very poor and with a setting sun. I got the leans a bit but stuck to the gauges, and landed uneventfully.

Your bucket of experience needs to fill up quickly in this game.

 

[poadeleted20]

For those who are interested, the above is a link to FAA's FITS research on the appropriate level and use of cockpit automation. It's long, fairly dry and definitely not light reading, but the conclusion is basically as long as a pilot does not allow stick and rudder skills to atrophy, the use of an autopilot makes flying safer.

Aye, there's the rub. Problem is, in my experience doing refresher training, many nonprofessional pilots do allow that atrophy to occur.

 

[JoeSelch]

Turning around I would've run out of gas before getting clear of undercast.

And in my short-legged plane, the ability to turn around is often a concern. (Of course, this often simplifies things... 2-hour range takes a lot of options off the plate from the get-go.)


AdamZ - tongue in cheek, trying to bite it.

 

[Anthony]

And in my short-legged plane, the ability to turn around is often a concern. (Of course, this often simplifies things... 2-hour range takes a lot of options off the plate from the get-go.)

Is it practical to throttle back a bit to gain range? Have you considered and of the DMA speed mods to reduce drag? Maybe even add a STC'd gas tank?

 

[jesse]

The ability to turn around and make it all the way back to where you started may not be easy - but you should be able to go elsewhere in most of the country pretty easily unless you pushed on WAY too long into degrading weather at which point you already made a huge mistake.

 

[steingar]

It describes a fairly small percentage of the hours flown in GA. Remember, GA represents Cubs up to G-Vs. But even if you want to stick to the piston world, the piston freight dogs (or in my case, dog freight) are going to be putting on way more hours than the recreational pilots.

Does describe the majority of the pilots likely to read this.

One of these days you'll realize that GA extends beyond Cherokees.

Wisdom is the ability to see beyond the lens of immediate experience. I doubt I will ever have enough.[/QUOTE]

 

[gismo]

That describes a fairly large portion of GA.

Sure, and for those folks (as well as many of the rest on similarly short flights) an autopilot is rarely used and would hardly be missed.

One of these days you'll realize that most pilots don't fly diagonally across the country to rescue dogs in antique twins several times a month. I suspect most pilots fly recreationally, and don't routinely spend hours on end it the clag.

That might be true for most of the pilots you know but I know plenty who do indeed spend considerable time droning along in the clag. And even with CAVU, hand flying can become tedious after a few hours of straight and level. Besides, I'd put large money on the belief that Ted is well aware that most pilots don't do exactly what he does with an airplane. Given your post I'd say that might be less true of you.

Now you've actually made a good case for an AP in the East versus the Midwest.

Much of my flying is in the "midwest" and I use my AP rather often on trips, both to reduce the fatigue factor and to allow me to devote more mental bandwidth to monitoring weather and dealing with what I find. In an airplane equipped with XM, radar, deice, etc. and/or when having to deal with inflight route changes and turbulence at the same time, I'm a little uncomfortable flying without an AP. At the very least, hand flying (especially if it's bumpy) makes every other task take twice as long. Another example is having to go missed on an approach and then setting up for the alternate which might be less than 5 minutes away. Without a copilot or autopilot to keep the airplane right side up and pointed in a good direction about the only way I can deal with briefing an unexpected approach and setting it up is to get a delay vector. There's a reason why autopilots are required for part 135 SPIFR and it's not because those pilots are lazy.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Aye, there's the rub. Problem is, in my experience doing refresher training, many nonprofessional pilots do allow that atrophy to occur.

I understand what you're saying and agree that's a problem, but it's the talented acrobat indeed who learns to walk a tightrope without a net.

 

[JoeSelch]

Is it practical to throttle back a bit to gain range? Have you considered and of the DMA speed mods to reduce drag? Maybe even add a STC'd gas tank?

Throttle back? As a practical matter, not really - I'm slow enough as it is (burning just under 7gph).

As for mods, not interested in investing anything more in this plane.

 

[Anthony]

Throttle back? As a practical matter, not really - I'm slow enough as it is (burning just under 7gph).

As for mods, not interested in investing anything more in this plane.

I hear ya.

 

[Fearless Tower]

I would rather say that the lesson should be to think ahead and try to not put yourself in a position where the only way out is to break the rules. Use the available weather forecasts and reports so you avoid being on top of a solid layer at your destination, and if it starts to close up underneath you, get down before it solidifies (even if that does mean a rough ride underneath).

This!

Even an IR is not always a guarantee to keep you out of trouble if you are not looking/thinking/planning ahead.

Shortly after getting my IR a few years ago, I was making a trip IFR from Corpus to Dallas. VMC for the first half of the trip, but as I was approaching College Station, I could see the clouds forming up below me as the OP described - scattered to broken out overcast out ahead and it was cold. Before I got to the edge, I contacted Flight Service on the radio and found that airliners departing DFW were reporting ice on the climbout (not forecasted). I quickly decided that making an instrument approach into ADS was NOT what I really wanted to attempt under those circumstances so I canx IFR with ATC and descended while I could below the cloud layer and went VFR the rest of the way. Yeah, I had to fly at around 2-2500 AGL for a good lenght of time, but it was definitely the better course of action than getting stuck on top and having to descend through the ice.

 

[steingar]

That might be true for most of the pilots you know but I know plenty who do indeed spend considerable time droning along in the clag. And even with CAVU, hand flying can become tedious after a few hours of straight and level. Besides, I'd put large money on the belief that Ted is well aware that most pilots don't do exactly what he does with an airplane. Given your post I'd say that might be less true of you.

I absolutely will not disagree with you. I can imagine who debilitating that level of concentration must be for hours on end.

Much of my flying is in the "midwest" and I use my AP rather often on trips, both to reduce the fatigue factor and to allow me to devote more mental bandwidth to monitoring weather and dealing with what I find. In an airplane equipped with XM, radar, deice, etc. and/or when having to deal with inflight route changes and turbulence at the same time, I'm a little uncomfortable flying without an AP. At the very least, hand flying (especially if it's bumpy) makes every other task take twice as long. Another example is having to go missed on an approach and then setting up for the alternate which might be less than 5 minutes away. Without a copilot or autopilot to keep the airplane right side up and pointed in a good direction about the only way I can deal with briefing an unexpected approach and setting it up is to get a delay vector. There's a reason why autopilots are required for part 135 SPIFR and it's not because those pilots are lazy.

Again, I won't disagree. Most of the IR pilots I know either have an autopilot or want one. Calling it a requirement does strike me as a bit extreme, though I freely admit my own lack of experience.

 

[dell30rb]

As far as autopilots go, you either want one, have one, or have never flown with one.

Probably only 15 percent of my flight time has been logged with an autopilot engaged but i find it very nice to have.

Excluding piper cubs and the like.

 

[poadeleted20]

I understand what you're saying and agree that's a problem, but it's the talented acrobat indeed who learns to walk a tightrope without a net.

I consider myself a pretty talented acrobat in this context, but I'll still take the net, thank you.

 

[Unregistered]

To the OP, who took an (uninformed) risk, and had to subsequently descend through the clouds, I offer this sobering statistic: Your life expectancy after flight into IMC is less than two minutes! The litany of VFR only pilots who stray (inadvertantly) in to IMC - then DIED, in a very long list. An autopilot, for such an inexperienced pilot, (in IMC) is akin to training wheels on a bicycle ridden on the freeway...AT NIGHT!

2 minutes? That cloud layer was 2000' thick and I was descending at 500-700 fpm. I had slowed down and trimmed for a steady descent a couple of thousand feet above the cloud to minimize task saturation while in the cloud. I was in the cloud for 3-4 minutes.

 

[airguy]

In that case you've used up 2 of your 9 lives. Go forth, and sin no more...

 

[p1l0t]

When you get that instrument ticket there are going to be even more factors to consider both for your go/no-go and during the flight as to 'weather' you should continue.. It's only for a few minutes is not going to be the right attitude. Things like icing, thunderstorms, and other perils of mother nature won't hesitate for a second to drop you out of the sky in a ball of ice or unflyable twisted aluminum. How does that saying go? "There's old pilots, there's bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.."

<---<^>--->

 

[roncachamp]

To the OP, who took an (uninformed) risk, and had to subsequently descend through the clouds, I offer this sobering statistic: Your life expectancy after flight into IMC is less than two minutes! The litany of VFR only pilots who stray (inadvertantly) in to IMC - then DIED, in a very long list. An autopilot, for such an inexperienced pilot, (in IMC) is akin to training wheels on a bicycle ridden on the freeway...AT NIGHT!

How was that statistic determined? I think we've all seen reports of VFR-only pilots straying into IMC with fatal results, but we simply don't know how many VFR-only pilots land uneventfully after an inadvertent trek into IMC.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

How was that statistic determined? I think we've all seen reports of VFR-only pilots straying into IMC with fatal results, but we simply don't know how many VFR-only pilots land uneventfully after an inadvertent trek into IMC.

There was a study done in the 50's or 60's where they put a bunch of VFR pilots in some kind of big deal simulator to see what would happen. They may have stacked the deck against the pilots, but I don't recall the details.

Edit:

http://www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/cami/0219.pdf

The AOPA Foundation,
Inc., funded a study at the University of Illinois
Institute of Aviation that was reported by Bryan,
Stonecipher, and Aron (1954) in which a procedure
was developed to help visual-flight-rules (VFR) pilots
who had inadvertently wandered into IMC to return
to visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Baseline
data were collected at the beginning of the study to
determine with what frequency pilots without instrument
experience would enter potentially flight-terminating
conditions. The 20 pilots ranged in age from
19 to 60 years, had no previous instrument experience,
and had a minimum of experience with the
Beechcraft Bonanza. Total pilot time ranged from 31
to 1625 hours. In their first exposure to simulated
instrument conditions (created by wearing blue goggles
in a cockpit with orange plexiglas covering the front
and side windows), 19 of the 20 entered a “graveyard
spiral” within an average of 3 minutes after losing​

their contact view of the outside world. The 20

th


placed the aircraft into a whip-stall attitude. These
results were obtained with cockpit instrumentation
sufficient to conduct instrument-referenced flight.
​

​

​

​

​

Edit 2
http://pastebin.com/Paj07U3f
​

The following is a summary of some key points of the paper itself, entitled
"180-degree turn experiment" and in UI's Aeronautics Bulletin 11. I have no
axe to grind, and I think the "178 seconds" article does a good job of
communicating the hazards of spatial disorientation. However, some issues
have become clouded by the "chinese whisper" effect, so this is to set the
record straight.

* The research was conducted at University of Illinois Institute of Aviation
in 1954, principally by Jesse Stonecipher, the CFI.

* It was a response to the challenge from AOPA to devise a technique for
non-instrument rated pilots who had flown inadvertently into IMC

* The tests were conducted on a Beech Bonanza C-35 in flight (not a "ground
trainer" as cited in the 178 Seconds article)

* The 20 subjects for the experiment were chosen for being representative of
those pilots who had *no* simulated or actual instrument experience (not
"none since primary training", none at all)

* The Bonanza was chosen specifically *because* it would be difficult to
fly, as the most complex single that a non-IR pilot was likely to fly.

* None of the subjects had soloed a Bonanza. As far as I can tell, only 3
of the subjects had any complex experience at all, with most of them
recording time on Aeronca 7AC, Cessna 140 and Tri-Pacers.

* Most of the subjects had only about 20 hours dual time, presumably the PPL
syllabus in those days. 7 of them had less than 40 hours total

 

[dmccormack]

How was that statistic determined? I think we've all seen reports of VFR-only pilots straying into IMC with fatal results, but we simply don't know how many VFR-only pilots land uneventfully after an inadvertent trek into IMC.

Take a VFR pilot up in the soup and say, "Your airplane."

Come back and let us know how long until you had to recover the airplane.