gregg wrote:
Hi all,

I've begun my IFR taining and at the same time, racking up the cross
country hours required for the ticket.

I'm wondering what things I could do in these strictly VFR XC's that would
help me learn/gain insight or facility with the IFR world. So far I have:

1) My CFII suggested I plan routes that VOR hop

2) Another CFII suggested I take along IFR enroute charts and look them over
while enroute

3) it occured to me to select alternates and plan fuel reserves as if this
was IMC.

Are there any other things that could be done during a strictly VFR XC that
would help?

Early in your IFR training, the most important flying skill you can
develop is what's known as BAI: Basic Attitude Instruments. This is
the ability to hold heading and altitude on instruments without even
thinking about it (so you have your full brainpower left to think
about things like navigation and procedures). So, find a safety pilot
(a fellow instrument student would be a perfect choice) and bring them
along so you can get some hood time.

Practice holding heading and altitude exactly. See if you can go 10
minutes without deviating 5 degrees in heading or 50 feet in altitude.
Practice rolling out of turns exactly on your target heading, and
stopping climbs and descents exactly on your target altitude.
Practice making turns at exactly standard rate.

Experiment to find what power setting and pitch attitude will give you
a 500 fpm descent at 90 kts. This is what you will be flying an ILS
at in many common trainers (172 or Archer, for example). Talk to your
instructor to make sure he agrees with 90 kts for an ILS; if not, find
out what speed he/she recommends, work out the descent rate to track a
3 degree glideslope, and then figure out what power setting and pitch
attitude gets you that.

If you are not comfortable talking to ATC, get as much ATC exposure as
you can. Plan all your trips to towered airports. Get flight
following. Talk to FSS to get weather updates and give them pireps.

Practice tracking VOR radials and identifying VOR cross-fixes. Give
yourself radial interception problems to practice.

Most of the above you can really do on your own without an instructor
(but with a safety pilot!) Once you can hold (and change) heading and
altitude precisely while reading a chart and talking to ATC, you've
got half the battle won. Everything builds on that.