Wizard of Draws wrote:
: Climbing through 2500', I entered the clouds for the first time, alone.
: There's no turning back now. At 5000', they moved me up to 7000'. Keeping me

Congrats on the safe "experience/confidence builder." I understand your
apprehension about actual IMC as being "committed." I, personally, cannot imagine
going all the way from PPL to IA without ever seeing the inside of a cloud.
Frightening, actually. My first "actual" was also my first "instrument" practice for
my PPL. Scared the beejeezus out of me, taking 90% of my concentration to keep the
wings level. For my IA rating, I insisted on not doing cross-country practice unless
there was some actual that my instructor would do. I figure if I'm paying for dual
from a CFII, I might as well get as much bang for the buck as possible.

In a parallel note, I did my first, "seasoned" solo IFR trip this past
weekend. By seasoned, I mean, "not completely second-guessing myself" the whole way.
Plenty of VMC on top during the enroute. Since three centers and an approach control
collide right near the IAF of my home-base approach, I was handed off with little time
to spare at 1000' high for the IAP, necessitating a decending hold/reversal. Ended up
shooting it (LOC/DME with 400' mins) to about 500', 5SM, IMC from IAF to (100' shy of)
MDA. Pretty exciting, but definately rewarding.

Cheers!
-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************