Last weekend I flew my first Angel Flight from MRY down to SMO. There was
the remnants of a cold front that passed through the day before between the
Bay Area and LA so there was plenty of clouds hanging around, mostly
build-ups over the mountains with tops 90 to 110 and some lower layers
BKN30. So I was in and out of IMC most of the trip, maybe 1 minute here, 5
minutes there and so on. Now, I didn't have a trusty Co-Pilot or CFII to
keep track of time and not having an auto-pilot I was focused on keeping the
dirty side of the plane pointing down inside the bumpy clouds - not noting
the hobbs time :-)

Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and logged 0.6
actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what everyone else does
in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of time, or actually track
it, if so then how ?

-Brenor

"Brenor Brophy" > wrote in message

>
> Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and
> logged 0.6 actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what
> everyone else does in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of
> time, or actually track it, if so then how ?

All time is an estimate. :) Your method is valid. Compare it to the Hobbs
meter. Are you tracking it to the minute? Or the tenth of an hour (six
minute block)? It's an estimate of time spent. Be honest with your
estimation of "IMC" (which doesn't necessarily equate to "time in cloud")
and all is good.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_search.asp?developerid=4415
____________________

Any time you're controlling the plane solely by reference to instruments.


"Brenor Brophy" > wrote in message
...
> Last weekend I flew my first Angel Flight from MRY down to SMO. There was
> the remnants of a cold front that passed through the day before between
> the Bay Area and LA so there was plenty of clouds hanging around, mostly
> build-ups over the mountains with tops 90 to 110 and some lower layers
> BKN30. So I was in and out of IMC most of the trip, maybe 1 minute here, 5
> minutes there and so on. Now, I didn't have a trusty Co-Pilot or CFII to
> keep track of time and not having an auto-pilot I was focused on keeping
> the dirty side of the plane pointing down inside the bumpy clouds - not
> noting the hobbs time :-)
>
> Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and logged
> 0.6 actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what everyone
> else does in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of time, or
> actually track it, if so then how ?
>
> -Brenor
>
>
>

Brenor Brophy ) wrote:

> Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and logged 0.6
> actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what everyone else does
> in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of time, or actually track
> it, if so then how ?

You have enough on your plate already without having to write down every
minute you are controlling the aircraft solely by instruments.

An honest estimate will do.


--
Peter

What I do for logging "actual" time is that any flight in which I enter cloud gets a minimum of .1 actual in the logbook. I try to keep track of the big chunks (I write times on my flight log if I remember), and estimate the little ones, but an
estimate is fine. Inaccuracies in time logging are paled by inconsistancies in weather conditions and whether the first minute is any "harder" than the fiftieth continuous minute. And now that you no longer need "six hours in six months" much of
the precision you'd aim for is moot anyway. An estimate is fine. It's mainly for your own recollection at this point.

Jose
--
for Email, make the obvious change in the address

Brenor Brophy wrote:
> Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and logged
0.6
> actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what everyone else
does
> in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of time, or actually track
> it, if so then how ?

As others have said, an honest estimate is best. Note however, that it is
natural to over-estimate your time in the clouds. For example, flying 3
ILSs to the DH with missed approaches (through a 1000' layer) is really only
0.2 (assuming 500 fpm up and down).

Hilton

My logs show about ten percent of my total instrument time as actual, but it
is a meaningless figure. There is no requirement that anyone log any
specific amount of time in actual. The payoff is in acquired/maintained
skills, not logbook totals.

Bob Gardner

"Brenor Brophy" > wrote in message
...
> Last weekend I flew my first Angel Flight from MRY down to SMO. There was
> the remnants of a cold front that passed through the day before between
> the Bay Area and LA so there was plenty of clouds hanging around, mostly
> build-ups over the mountains with tops 90 to 110 and some lower layers
> BKN30. So I was in and out of IMC most of the trip, maybe 1 minute here, 5
> minutes there and so on. Now, I didn't have a trusty Co-Pilot or CFII to
> keep track of time and not having an auto-pilot I was focused on keeping
> the dirty side of the plane pointing down inside the bumpy clouds - not
> noting the hobbs time :-)
>
> Afterwards I just guessed about how long I was in the clouds and logged
> 0.6 actual out of 5.8 hours flying time. I was wondering what everyone
> else does in this kind of situation ? A gut feel estimate of time, or
> actually track it, if so then how ?
>
> -Brenor
>
>
>

Is there any required amount of actual IMC before getting the rating?

> Is there any required amount of actual IMC before getting the rating?

No. In the United States you can get the instrument rating with no actual time, and all of your training under the hood. It happens in Arizona all the time.

Jose
--
for Email, make the obvious change in the address

Tlewis95 wrote:
> Is there any required amount of actual IMC before getting the rating?

No, the regs don't differentiate between simulated or actual IFR.
It's all "instrument time".