Napoleon Dynamite wrote:
I live and fly in North Carolina. I am a 150-hour
private pilot about to take my instrument checkride.I need some help
overcoming my apprehension regarding IMC.
90 percent of my actual IMC has been after work,in the
hot summer months, in the dark dodging thunderstorm cells on x-country
flights


Unfortunately it is summertime in the Carolinas with all the weather that
brings. Back when I was flying checks all over NC, I had one run that required
me to sit out at the Greenville, NC airport until around 1700, then scoot over
to Rocky Mount for more load, then over to Fayetteville and finally back to
Charlotte. The lateness of the day pretty much guaranteed you got to tangle
with convective weather along the way. There is a band of weather that forms
almost every afternoon out that way that made life "interesting". Do you ever
get used to flying in and around thunderstorms? Hell, no! I've been through
many cells in my day and I still get queasy at the thought.

Lucky for you summer is only one season out of the year. With the exception of
the occasional icing situations in the winter, IFR flying in the Carolinas is
more likely to involve poor visibility, cloud cover, and/or rain. That's a lot
easier to take.

You want to absolutely enjoy IFR flying? Wait until late summer or early fall
and shoot for a takeoff around 0830 or 0900, taking off from a low ceiling
airport and fly to improving weather. You take off, go IFR at 200-300 feet and
then either cruise in smooth clouds until you shoot an approach to your
destination, or even better, you climb out and get on top, only to enter the
goop again at your destination. Shoot an ILS down to 300-400 feet so you're not
too uptight about missing and life is sweet indeed.

You can get a lot of satisfaction out of a flight like that. It's the world's
finest video game.

BTW, I commend you on getting your instrument rating (soon) so early in your
career. It makes a world of difference if you need to get somewhere on a
schedule. And as far as I'm concerned, there is no VFR flying at night if
you're smart (at least around here).

Want to ease your fears during this early part of your career? Take another
more experienced instrument pilot (not an instructor) along on your cross
countries for a while. Don't take one along for every flight though or you'll
possibly come to fear solo IFR.

BTW: autopilots are excellent for reducing single pilot workload while you pull
out charts, etc. If you have one, use it. I personally only used one during
cruise but I did use it if I had one for that.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE