"RjL" wrote in message ...

Have fun! Im only 70 hrs ahead of you & mostly through IFR training. When I
finish the instrument rating I figure I'll be about as good a VFR pilot as I
hoped I would be when I got the PP. I figure 100-200 more hours and a
commercial rating & I'll be a decent instrument pilot. But why fly if not to
learn & get better? I mean besides the obvious "I can go 120 MPH in a
straight line isnt that amazing?" part


I'd generally agree but add the counsel to make sure that the quality
of your experience meets or exceeds the quantity. You can go from
student to CFII while almost never venturing more than 50 miles from
one airport with an instructor sitting next to you on sunny days. I'm
getting ready to take my instrument checkride and I have about 25
hours of actual IFR time, because my instructor makes a point of
teaching students in real weather.

After the examiner handed me my ticket two years ago, I asked him if
he would recommend that I get an instrument rating. He replied,
"Absolutely, but first you should go out alone and scare yourself for
50 hours or so."

-cwk.