single pilot ifr trip tonight

Just got back from a good proficiency practice flight. This was the first
time I'd flown single pilot IFR at night with conditions that could
potentially deteriorate to actual instrument. (cloudy, rain developing as
the flight progressed, visibility dropping somewhat)

The basic rundown... got the plane, preflighted in the dark, and realized
that it was the first time I had actually done a full preflight at night.
All the other night flights I did the preflight at dusk or earlier.
Definitely took me a few extra minutes to get oriented to the darkness and
using my flashlight.

I got through that ok, ready to do, and poof! My flashlight _light_ (not the
batteries) goes out! Just like the bright, microsend flash of illumination
you see from a normal light bulb then total darkness. Crap! Fortunately, I
had a spare light, smaller, but did the job. I was a bit disappointed in the
bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old
with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement.

Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy
when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need
to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on
downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry
along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if
need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was
obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any
traffic to manage).

So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to
180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice
ILS.

I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the
plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and
secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just
leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one
working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if
things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds
were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer
to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along
the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the
needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components
in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the
side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW.

Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4
departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the
routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn
south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After
getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a
transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even
with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction
ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared
itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3
for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other
times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC.

Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come
down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is
difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I
told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that
wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was
handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a
squeaker of a landing.

So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip.
And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be
decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any
more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory)
be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push
the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight.

--
Guy Elden Jr.

In article ,
Guy Elden Jr. wrote:
bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old
with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement.

Maglights used to come with a spare bulb wrapped in a swatch of foam
inside the battery spring.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

I carry 6 flashlights, and 4 of them have LED's instead of bulbs. LED's
last forever, and are shockproof. One of my flashlights doesn't even use
batteries. You shake it for about 30 seconds to get about 5 minutes of
light.

Guy Elden Jr. wrote:
Just got back from a good proficiency practice flight. This was the first
time I'd flown single pilot IFR at night with conditions that could
potentially deteriorate to actual instrument. (cloudy, rain developing as
the flight progressed, visibility dropping somewhat)

The basic rundown... got the plane, preflighted in the dark, and realized
that it was the first time I had actually done a full preflight at night.
All the other night flights I did the preflight at dusk or earlier.
Definitely took me a few extra minutes to get oriented to the darkness and
using my flashlight.

I got through that ok, ready to do, and poof! My flashlight _light_ (not the
batteries) goes out! Just like the bright, microsend flash of illumination
you see from a normal light bulb then total darkness. Crap! Fortunately, I
had a spare light, smaller, but did the job. I was a bit disappointed in the
bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year old
with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a replacement.

Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy
when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need
to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on
downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry
along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if
need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was
obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any
traffic to manage).

So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to
180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice
ILS.

I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the
plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and
secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just
leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one
working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if
things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds
were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer
to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along
the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the
needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components
in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the
side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW.

Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4
departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the
routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn
south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After
getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a
transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even
with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction
ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared
itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3
for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other
times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC.

Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come
down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is
difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I
told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that
wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was
handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a
squeaker of a landing.

So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip.
And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be
decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any
more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory)
be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push
the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight.

--
Guy Elden Jr.

If it was the female controller I think it is at CDW - she is wound
WAAAY too tight to be a controller for very long . . .

she'd cleared people to land who were ON a short final and then she
clears me to depart - what if they guy goes around? They do it all
the time at big airports, but whats the big deal if I hold for another
20 seconds - this guy was inside a 1/2 mile. [

Then there was the mid air @ CDW a while ago.

your radio and nav problems could have been caused by storng solar and
magnetic storm . . .

Or just an old tired airplane that the FBO does not wantto spend alot
of money on = now you know why safety dictates 2 VOR's and 2 COM's in
addition to anything else!

Joe

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 23:28:04 -0500, "Guy Elden Jr."
wrote:



Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy
when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need
to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on
downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry
along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if
need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller) was
obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any
traffic to manage).

So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to
180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a practice
ILS.

I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the
plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and
secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just
leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one
working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if
things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds
were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got closer
to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection along
the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the
needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components
in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the
side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW.

Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the SWF.4
departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the
routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then turn
south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After
getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a
transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again, even
with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the instruction
ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio cleared
itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike 3
for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other
times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC.

Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come
down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is
difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I
told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that
wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was
handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a
squeaker of a landing.

So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip.
And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be
decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any
more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory)
be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push
the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight.

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:
Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy
when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need
to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on
downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry
along.

More likely, the tower was given a small window by NY Approach to
release you. At a place like CDW (i.e. any towered airport that doesn't
have their own approach control), when you tell the tower you're ready
to go, the tower calls the remote approach facility and requests
permission to launch you. This is why the tower says "hold for
release". When approach tells tower to release you, tower clears you
for takeoff. The window of time in which the tower is allowed to
release you may be very small. At someplace like CDW, they've got to
find a gap in the TEB, MMU, and maybe even EWR traffic to fit you in.
Until they get you radar identified, they're tying up a big chunk of
airspace for you. That's why the tower guy was trying to hurry you
along.

All that being said, NEVER let anybody rush you. Nothing bad can happen
as long as your wheels are still on the taxiway. You did exactly the
right thing asking for clarification of something you weren't sure about
before moving onto the runway. The worst that could have happened if
you missed the window is the tower controller would have been annoyed
that he had to call approach back and ask for another release window,
and you might have been delayed a few minutes.

So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this trip.
And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be
decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any
more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in theory)
be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push
the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight.

Pardon my pessimism, but I read the story as a disaster unfolding with a
lucky ending despite bad decision making. You were single pilot IFR, at
night, in deteriorating weather. You had no previous experience in this
environment. You had three equipment failures (flashlight, nav/com, and
adf), two of which you knew about before you left the ground yet decided
to depart anyway.

Actually, you had another equipment failure you knew about before you
took off: runway 4/22 was closed. You not only didn't have the LOC
approach available, but you were also down to one runway, substantially
shorter than the main one, with inferior lighting and terrain
obstructing one end.

Finally, your last remaining radio started to act up on you. What would
you have done if the problem was something in the electrical system and
the slowly decaying avionics were just the early symptoms? What if
instead of getting better, the last radio died too?

The most obvious immediate problem would have been that you would have
no way to talk to ATC (unless you carry a handheld radio). You would
have also had no way to navigate. Do you have a handheld GPS? It's
night and the weather is going down. Was visibility still good enough
to find your way home visually? You would also have no way to turn the
runway lights on at an uncontrolled airport.

What were you flying? A 172 with electric flaps? If so, you might not
have had enough power left to put the flaps down. 27 has 2900 feet
after the displaced threshold. Under normal conditions, that's not a
big deal. But can you handle that with no flaps, no landing light, at
night, no VASI, and wet pavement? Maybe your last remaining flashlight
went out too, so you can't even see the ASI?

The point is, no single one of the problems you encountered was bad
enough to be critical, but accidents are not usually caused by single
problems, they're caused by chains of events. Each one eats into the
number of options you've got left until you don't have any left at all
and you die. The key to avoiding this is to recognize the chain early
and do something to break it.

Your flashlight died. Do they sell flashlights in the pilot shop?
Could you have delayed your flight 10 minutes to run back into the FBO
and buy a new one? Why not just carry several? I've got about 3 or 4
in my flight bag.

Your radio died. At night, during the week, with marginal weather, the
FBO probably has a flightline full of airplanes sitting idle. Could you
have gone back in and told them to give you a different plane?

Your ADF died on the way into Stewart. Could you have found a mechanic
while you were on the ground to come take a look at it and make sure
nothing systemic was going on with the electrical system?

Your second radio started flaking out. Could you have turned around at
that point, gotten back on the ground at SWF, and sorted things out?
Maybe called the FBO and told them to send another plane up to get you?

Well, upon reflection, you will probably gain more from this flight than you
think.

I was caught somewhat unawares by yesterday's weather on a flight from HPN
to RDU (actually to my homebase of 8nc8). The forecast was for VFR and
improving conditions. I filed IFR as I usually do for long CCs post9/11 -
especially going past DC. There was a time when I would not have fretted
about not having all the charts or skipping some flight planning details
given the forecast. I've learned to always have everything lined up for IFR
flight if I file. It sucks showing up with 1/3 fuel at the now IMC
destination without the necessary charts.

After a 20 minute delay waiting for a clearance at HPN after my DUATs filing
fell short ("no one here knows where or what 8nc8 is"), I was rewarded with
a clearance via JFK. Wow! Seeing NYC in the morning light with foilage at
max saturation and 50 mile visibility was great! Being the major climb
obstacle obstacle for half a dozen departing heavies out of JFK was fun too
("Ecuador 1234 maintain 5,000, do you see the Maule 11:00, 2 miles at 6?" I
saw 'em all).

Anyway, down the shore and approaching Dover I notice that the layer over my
head is thickening rather than thinning and it looks hazy towards the south.
A few Cheap ******* inquiries and I see the TAFs are still suggesting VFR
but the METARS for Richmond and RDU are moving in the wrong direction. The
next round of TAFs is moving to MVFR but Richmond and RDU are 1200 - then
800. What the heck!

At Patauxant (sp) I enter IMC at 4,000 and never see the ground again. I
landed Richmond with ATIS reporting 800' ceilings and the tower asking when
I break out - which turns out to be 400'.

Obviously the forecast had flushed itself and the flight home was a new
deal. I never would have left Westchester if I had known. Now it was going
to be IMC from takeoff to landing at RDU and a cab ride home. After takeoff
my transponder decides to act up. I look and the interrogation indicator is
stuck on. After much cycling and such - the light stays on and I'm
reporting progress via Radials and DME reading without radar coverage. I'm
told that RDU won't want to take me with no blinker (4oclock in the PM with
400' ceilings, what's the problem...).Transponder stays belly up for nearly
40 minutes. I believe that Greensboro is a VFR out but I press on wanting
to get home. Main thing is that I'm single pilot IMC hand flying light
chop. Everything is a major chore and challenge. The easiest thing is to
fly to my planned destination.

Then, for relief, a Bonanza pilot reports within 20 miles of my location
that they need the location of the nearest ap. "Yeah, it's an emergency, we
just lost the engine for a few seconds" Everyone remains hyper cool - it
helps to have an autopilot and a copilot. "We think is was water in one
tank, we're going with the other tank.... but we'll continue on to
Richmond". It's an interesting 10 minute exchange with me thinking "is the
controller remembering I'm out here without radar coverage?"

They switch me to RDU. I take a quick look at the transponder and the light
is off but not blinking. I say Hi and look down and it is being interogated
and the controller treats the handoff routinely. When did it fix itself?
Sunspots??

So after a really sharp approach, I land. Sharp? After 3 straight
*unexpected* approaches to 400' ceiling in that same */?@@## weather
system, I had sharpened up a bit.

A lot of people on this list wouldn't fly my a/c in those conditions (what
happens if the engine quits, you encounter embedded moderate T, single vac
says bye, GSO socks in, your NAV fails, etc). I've made similar flights
ending at night - I wouldn't now.

I like to think I would have stayed on the ground for your flight given the
a/c, night, and the weather. But I've made comparable flights before. It's
too easy to self righteously state what one should or shouldn't accept as
risks - especially as one accesses better equipment and gains experience.
While trying to avoid that, I'd suggest that the flight you describe is not
one you want to repeat. Sometimes the most satisfying flights end up
teaching that they are best not repeated.

BTW, I just counted 4 working flashlights in my flight bag and know there is
at least one more in the plane. I have a fully charged backup nav(com?) but
no backup GPS...next on the list. IFR is just an excuse for more equipment.

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote in message
news
Just got back from a good proficiency practice flight. This was the first
time I'd flown single pilot IFR at night with conditions that could
potentially deteriorate to actual instrument. (cloudy, rain developing as
the flight progressed, visibility dropping somewhat)

The basic rundown... got the plane, preflighted in the dark, and realized
that it was the first time I had actually done a full preflight at night.
All the other night flights I did the preflight at dusk or earlier.
Definitely took me a few extra minutes to get oriented to the darkness and
using my flashlight.

I got through that ok, ready to do, and poof! My flashlight _light_ (not
the
batteries) goes out! Just like the bright, microsend flash of illumination
you see from a normal light bulb then total darkness. Crap! Fortunately, I
had a spare light, smaller, but did the job. I was a bit disappointed in
the
bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a year
old
with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for a
replacement.

Takeoff out of CDW was uneventful, although the controller was a bit pushy
when I wanted to clarify the squawk before departing... she said "You need
to get rolling" after confirming the code was correct... somebody on
downwind was undoubtedly going to plow into me I guess if I didn't hurry
along. Needless to say, I didn't hurry. (I was still holding short, so if
need be could've just continued to hold short, but she (the controller)
was
obviously in need of some excitement on a dreary night with barely any
traffic to manage).

So up up and away we go, didn't even have time to make the initial turn to
180 before departure vectored me to SAX. Then enroute to SWF for a
practice
ILS.

I noticed before departing that one of the two radio / nav units in the
plane was not functioning... it's one of those that has a primary and
secondary freq, but the display was completely dead, so I decided to just
leave it off. So even before starting the flight, I knew I had only one
working com and one working nav / vor unit operational. No problem, if
things got too heavy, I could just cancel IFR and continue VFR... clouds
were definitely high enough on the way up (around 6000 OVC). As I got
closer
to SWF, I tried tuning in the NDB so I could identify an intersection
along
the LOC. No dice. I didn't hear the magic morse in the background, and the
needle spun and spun til I got dizzy. Strike two on operational components
in the plane! Still, I managed to get to SWF safely, and taxied off to the
side to get myself setup for the trip back to CDW.

Departure out of SWF was a bit more interesting, as I had to read the
SWF.4
departure procedure. Easy to do, and so off I went. Unfortunately, the
routing back home wasn't optimal... was supposed to go out to HUG then
turn
south to head to CDW, so I asked for a shortcut to SAX instead. After
getting handed off to NY Approach on 127.6, I had a helluva time hearing a
transmission from the controller. I asked to hear it again, and again,
even
with the volume all the way up, it was barely audible. I got the
instruction
ok tho... left turn to 170. And fortunately the gremlin in the radio
cleared
itself up on the next transmission. But this turns out to have been strike
3
for equipment in the plane... I encountered this problem a couple other
times, fortunately when other pilots were transmitting, and not ATC.

Getting back in to CDW was a bit dicey, as the rain had started to come
down, and the mist was making it difficult to pick out CDW (which is
difficult enough these days anyway with 4/22 being closed for repairs). I
told the controller at one point that I had the beacon in sight, but that
wasn't good enough for him. 2 miles later, I could make out 9/27, so I was
handed off for a visual approach, which wasn't my best approach, but was a
squeaker of a landing.

So to sum up: I had 1 VOR, 1 COM, and no backups in the plane for this
trip.
And the COM was flaky toward the end. Methinks this plane is about to be
decommissioned from the flight line, because the owner refuses to put any
more money into it. It also just came out of 100 hour, so should (in
theory)
be at its best operating capacity. I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon, but I'm glad I had the chance to push
the boundaries a bit with the bare minimums for night IFR flight.

--
Guy Elden Jr.

BTW, regarding my long post, Guy did mention he wouldn't do this flight
again in the same a/c in the same way, so if I got carried away.... sorry.

...I know I won't be trying any more trips
at night or IFR in it anytime soon,

Bill

(Ben Jackson) wrote in
news:vqJnb.55004$e01.155566@attbi_s02:

In article ,
Guy Elden Jr. wrote:
bulb that burnt out though... it was a Maglight, and barely over a
year old with hardly any use. I'm tempted to send it back to them for
a replacement.

Maglights used to come with a spare bulb wrapped in a swatch of foam
inside the battery spring.


Unless you already used it, and forgot to buy new ones. That's why I've
about given up on Maglites. I have one AA model for a backup to a backup,
but I've gone to LED lights almost completely. Much better battery life,
way better bulb life, and better light to boot. My primary flashlight has
5 LEDs, and give lots of light. I also have a couple of small disk-type
LED lights attached to my survival vest just in case, and for flying I have
a green LED on my mike boom that I can activate with my lip or keep on with
a switch. That's all I use in the cockpit, the main flashlight is for
preflighting, etc. A full flashlight in the cockpit at night is far too
bright; a single colored LED is perfect.

--
Regards,

Stan

I've read all the replies, and appreciate everyone's comments!

I did actually have another spare flashlight that I always bring along with
me... I got it from Sporty's, and it's a flex neck type with a red led in it
that you can clip onto the visor. I had it positioned at the instrument
panel, so I did actually have a backup light in addition to the spare white
I was already using. I also discovered, thanks to Ben's post, that there was
indeed a spare bulb in the base of my Maglight, so I replaced it and it's
working again. For good measure, I bought another one, plus a headband red
led / white led combo unit at Target on the way home, so now I know I'm
golden on the flashlight situation.

As for the minimum equipment, night, etc, I knew I would be able to fly this
flight both to and from SWF under VFR if I had had to. I wouldn't have tried
if I couldn't, and actually scrubbed an attempt last week when the winds
started picking up as I was getting ready to preflight. This time, the winds
were real calm, clouds were very high (at least 5000 both up and back), and
visibility, while it did drop off as I approached CDW, was still at least 6
nm the entire trip.

All of my previous single-pilot IFR trips have been in a 172SP, with
alternate static source, dual COM, dual NAV, ADF, GPS, dual-axis
Autopilot... basically the works minus a standby vacuum. I wanted to do this
trip to get back to the basics, and didn't think it was as unsafe as it
might sound. It did give me a very good appreciation for GPS though... I
wouldn't fly passengers in actual without it, and I definitely won't be
taking such an underequipped plane out at night anymore.

--
Guy Elden Jr.

I am sorry if this offends anybody, however this sentence "It did give
me a very good appreciation for GPS though... I wouldn't fly
passengers in actual without it..." is quite concerning to me. I
understand that each person has a different comfort level, but what is
happening to the pilots of today when we are no longer comfortable
flying passengers without the use of GPS? What happened to VOR and ADF
skills? Maybe rather than not flying passengers without GPS, it would
be a better idea of going to get some dual in VOR and ADF usage so you
are comfortable flying with passengers without the use of GPS.

Lynne

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote in message ...

All of my previous single-pilot IFR trips have been in a 172SP, with
alternate static source, dual COM, dual NAV, ADF, GPS, dual-axis
Autopilot... basically the works minus a standby vacuum. I wanted to do this
trip to get back to the basics, and didn't think it was as unsafe as it
might sound. It did give me a very good appreciation for GPS though... I
wouldn't fly passengers in actual without it, and I definitely won't be
taking such an underequipped plane out at night anymore.