Hey guys. Starting instrument training now. Got to fly just over 300 miles to see my son at Camp Geiger in Nc. for Marine Combat Training graduation. We took off at 4:30 am and shot the ILS and broke out of the clouds right on the center line. IFR is the way to go.
It was great to see Daniel and his fellow Marines, I am so proud of those guys. Got to see him for about 45 min. total then back in the plane and on the way home.

Hey Mo congratulations to both you and your son!

IFR in the clouds is always a neat experience unless it's really crappy. I still love taking off into a drizzly overcast, then have the gray get lighter until youbreak out on top and it's just all sunny with a fluffy white blanket underneath...

My wife really enjoyed that part of the flight back. She had the video camera running most of the time.

IFR sucks, I like to fly free as a bird, no flight plan, no ATC control

Sudrunner,

You can just fly IFR with no clearance in that case.

IFR is about getting somewhere not going out for a joy ride.

Surestrike said

quote:

IFR is about getting somewhere not going out for a joy ride.

I think the other way to put it is;

FR is cause you have to fly, NOT because you want to enjoy flying.

IFR can be among the most challenging experiences a pilot may undergo, most particularly third world, say in the Andes, for example. I've had those days when I'd take off at three AM, seeing nothing but the runway edge and centerline lights, pop into the mush at rotation, fly 4000 miles, and not see anything but black and gray until I popped out at 200 over the approach lights at the destination. That's why we make all those big bucks.

Still Learning is a good heading. Just remember that you will still be learning right up to the conclusion of your very last flight. That way you might stay alive.

The more I get into this I realize how true that statement is. The learning never stops.
This is so much fun!

Keep us posted on your progress. I've been putting off my instrument rating for 10 years, and am slowly motivating myself to get it. I even bought the Martha videos for the written!

The Instrument rating enables you to fully utilize the ATC system. Always be cognizant of your limitations and the limitations of your aircraft.

Study weather, weather, weather. Learn as much as you can about it, because flying IFR, you will be contending with it on an entirely new and more challenging basis.

Remember that situational awareness, the picture that you build in your mind of where you are, where you're going, and exactly how you're gonna get there, fuel remaining, time flown and time to go and all the variety of factors that comprise the flight, will keep you safe. Never, but never, lose situational awareness. Build a picture in your mind of pertinent air traffic that is on the frequency in your sector. Always have a Plan B. And never completely trust an air traffic controller. They make mistakes, too.

There is so much to learn. Be careful and have fun, but as someone said, IFR ain't about fun, it's about getting there in one piece.

If I remember correctly one of the hardest parts about getting the IFR ticket was passing the written exam. One of the hardest tests I've ever taken. Check ride wasn't a cakewalk either!

Yeah, me, too. I busted the written once. Had no problem on the ride because I had gone to Flight Safety in Houston for procedures. They made sure I knew them.

The Instrument is a quantum leap in knowledge. Instrument procedures are all precise, whether it be regs and written procedures you're tested on in the written or flying ability under instrument conditions. The ATP is simply an extension and refinement of the procedures you initially learned on the Instrument.

Had my prog check about two weeks ago. Flew a vor intercept to Athens and shot the
ILS at my home base. Had an observer on board . No need for the hood , the ceilings were pretty low. Flew in the soup for over an hour. I was prety worn out when it was over. We had to fly an actual holding pattern because of traffic. Pretty intense flight.

Yeah, IFR is intense. Requires you to constantly use the old gray matter. But it can be very rewarding.

During the desert war, my crew and I were ferrying an L-382G, (civilian Hercules), from Lajes in the Azores to McGuire AFB. We were exhausted after flying against headwinds for hours. Arrived at McGuire in the middle of the night with what the controllers called 200 and a half. They were giving us a break, because deep in their hearts they knew it was below minimums. But when we hit the middle marker there was no runway in sight. We really wanted to land. I mean, we were exhausted. We could just see those comfortable hotel rooms waiting, with a couple of cold beers first to finish the night. But it was missed approach time, so we cobbed it and asked for our alternate, Dover AFB. Dover was open, the weather was above minimums, so we went.

Naturally when we got to Dover, there wasn't a hotel room within a hundred miles. There was a war on, and everybody was in the northeast, close to Washington.

Lucky for us, a UPS 747 had landed just ahead of us and the captain heard me on the phone with my interline department trying to line up a room. He and his crew were busing it to Philly to go somewhere else, and they had rooms reserved. He cleared it with his company, and we got his rooms. I sent the crew scheduling department at UPS a case of champange for that one.

So, the point is, you just never know.

The weather can be forecast to be at minimums, but the forecast isn't written in stone. Anything can happen when you are up in the weather, so always have a plan to go to the alternate and know what the weather is in your area.

IFR is tiring. But IFR in heavy weather separates the men from the boys.

Be careful, have a Plan B, and don't hesitate to go to your alternate if you have to. You'll find that the rewarding feeling you get after completeing a difficult flight will be worth the effort of overcoming the obstacles.