In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

Ron Garret writes:

Then you are missing something very fundamental: there is more to IFR
flight than simply flying by reference to instruments. It is also
flying according to a much more rigidly planned and stylized repertoire
of routes and maneuvers designed to keep you from hitting not only other
airplanes but also (and more importantly) terrain. That is why even
instrument-rated pilots flying instrument-equipped planes die on a
regular basis as a result of VFR flight into IMC.

If you have the right instruments, and an instrument rating, and ATC
to provide separation, why would it be dangerous?

Because ATC only provides separation from other airplanes. It does not
provide separation from terrain. Also, with VFR into IMC situations you
often don't have contact with ATC. So you have to get out your chart,
try to figure out where you are (not all planes have moving map GPS),
find the right frequency, dial it in, call them up, wait for a
response... and all the time you have to fly the plane without being
able to see where you're going. It's not so easy in real life as it
might appear in a sim.

I know that most IFR flights are rigidly planned, but it appears that
they don't have to be. You need to know where you are and where you
are going, but you don't have to plan every detail in advance.

And what will you do if your GPS fails?

That takes time. How are you going to keep from hitting things in the
meantime?

All it takes is a call to ATC.

No. ATC does not provide terrain separation.

If you already know your instruments
and you already have your navaids and what-not set up, you already
know where you are and where you are going, irrespective of what you
can see out the window.

Those are all big IFs.

You just look out the window for separation
and as an additional sanity check on your navigation, or just for
sightseeing. If visibility drops, you're covered, except for
separation--whence the call to ATC when you approach IMC.

Sure. But you keep switching the topic back and forth between "when you
approach IMC" and when you are IN IMC. Those are two very different
circumstances.

Flying using instruments is NOT the same thing as flying IFR.

What are the differences? ATC provides separation and guidance for
IFR flights, but besides that, what changes?

The major differences a 1) in IMC you cannot rely on your peripheral
vision. This makes a much bigger difference than you might imagine (and
you can't experience it in simulation unless you have a lot of
monitors). 2) approach to landing must be done in a much more stylized
and pre-planned way in order to avoid terrain that you can't see. 3) if
you don't have a moving-map GPS you have to twiddle a lot of knobs in
the right way at the right time, which adds to your workload. The
combination of all three of these factors makes for a very different
experience.

rg