Jay Honeck must get an instrument rating

On 2006-09-27, ktbr wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

3. Instrument Flying Sucks. This is something I've rarely seen
discussed here (maybe never?), but instrument flying is one of the most
boring things I've done. Neither of us learned to fly so that we could
stare at what amounts to a computer screen for hours on end. In fact,
we learned to fly for the freedom of flight, and the sheer beauty of
the experience.

I've never felt that flying IFR 'sucked' any more than flying VFR.
It *is* a little more of a challenge than VFR but that makes it all
that much more rewarding to me. You are required to maintain your
currency to a higher degree and I think that makes you a safer pilot.

The thing that Jay is probably missing is that real world IFR flying is
_much_ different to IFR training. The difference is like night and day.
For the training, you fly perhaps 40 or 50 hours under the hood, doing
nothing but staring at the instruments.

Real world IFR flying, in my experience, has been 95% VMC because you
spend a lot of time on top of clouds or between them. Since you are in
VMC, you don't look at the instruments any more than you do on a VFR
flight (after all, you still have to see and avoid when flying IFR in
VMC).

The most staggeringly beautiful flights I've had - with the exception of
mountain flying - have ALL been IFR flights. Majestic cloud canyons that
are out of this world. Bursting out of walls of sheer cloud. Spears and
tendrils of cloud between layers, illuminated by milky sunshine coming
through a high cirrus layer. A runway, lit up like a Christmas tree,
emerging from the murk at the last stages of an ILS.

Real world IFR flying is seldom staring at the gauges.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Dylan Smith wrote:
The most staggeringly beautiful flights I've had - with the exception of
mountain flying - have ALL been IFR flights. Majestic cloud canyons that
are out of this world. Bursting out of walls of sheer cloud. Spears and
tendrils of cloud between layers, illuminated by milky sunshine coming
through a high cirrus layer. A runway, lit up like a Christmas tree,
emerging from the murk at the last stages of an ILS.


I have to agree with this. Aside from the tremendous satisfaction in emerging
from the crap to see the runway right in front of me or noting with satisfaction
the looks on the faces of the lesser beings as I transverse the FBO after
flight, the most spectacular sight I have ever seen in my life was at the
beginning of an IFR flight out of Charleston, SC.

I had spent the night after flying in with crappy weather. The early morning
didn't look promising from the ground but Flight Service assured me it was clear
on top and there was improving weather as I moved to the NW towards Charlotte.
I took off in the rain and immediately entered the crap at about 20 feet off the
deck. I tucked in the gear and started my climb. After about another minute or
two I poked out on top of a stratus deck. There to the east was the sun just
starting to poke its way up out of the clouds. The entire sky was lit up a
brilliant vivid orange. I'm not a religious man but the memory still send
shivers down my back. Like Gordo once said, "What a heavenly sight!".

The rest of the flight was in the clear for me. I never could have made it if I
didn't have the rating.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

I remember being in the area of no clouds, but surrounded on all 4
sides by clouds! Talk about weird! And being between layers where the
bottom layer had shimmering fog on top of the cloud. Yes you see some
amazing stuff in IMC. Also, I remeber literally swooping around small
cumulus like they were big slalom poles in the sky (had a block
clearance on that one).

It's just a matter of priorities and if you want to do it or not. I
also remember ATC making me mad and confused by making mistakes, me
making some mistakes, and NOT being able to proceed IFR because my
equipment was broken or I didn't have the charts or just wasn't
comfortable or current to do it.