Ron did it!!

: Congrats!
:
: Now remember, IFR in a light plane can only really safely go in about
: 20% of the instrument weather mother nature can throw at you.
:
: However, an instrument rated pilot can go in about 40% of the VFR
: weather that would have been too risky for a VFR-only pilot to attempt,
: due to the the risk of weather closing in being too great.
:
: Therefore paradoxically, by getting an instrument rating you will find
: yourself flying a lot more VFR than you had before :-)

: Uh, ok. That's not the case for me, nor most of the pilots I know.

I can say that it *is* the case for me. Being in Virginia with most
cross-country flights to the north or northwest, actually flying IFR in a
non-high-performance piston-pounder is often less safe than VFR. Between the
convective activity in the summer, and the icing in the 6000' MEA's over West
Virginia, *filing* is often a fool's game. Flying 1500' AGL VFR is safer than getting
stuck in VMC on top of an icing layer IMO.

I don't know if I quite agree with your 20% of instrument weather number or
40% of the VFR weather. I'd probably double those numbers so long as you stay
current. Of course... there are some that say that flying IMC in a single is unsafe
at any speed.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

My number are just a swag. However my point is, an instrument rating
in a light plane does a lot more to give you *options* flying VFR than
to give you the ability to fly real, hard-core IFR.

A lot of IFR flights people done in light planes, if they really look
back and think about it, can be done VFR. However a VFR pilot
shouldn't really attempt those flights because there're great chances
of running out of options. An instrument pilot can however fly in
really crummy VFR weather while still have options. When icing
condition, TS, or terrain forcing MEA to be be well over 10k like what
we have out west, flying VFR while keeping the options of getting a
clearance is often the safest way of doing it.

Not to mention the fuel and time savings in flying VFR in many cases.

I don't know if I quite agree with your 20% of instrument weather number or
40% of the VFR weather. I'd probably double those numbers so long as you stay
current. Of course... there are some that say that flying IMC in a single is unsafe
at any speed.

M wrote:
An instrument pilot can however fly in
really crummy VFR weather while still have options.

This is precisely the reason for me getting the rating. I can't
tell you the number of times we have stopped a flight where weather
was fine at our destination but deteriorating visibility or cloud
layers made VFR flight (especially accross the Appalachians) unsafe
in our opinion.

M wrote:
Congrats!

Now remember, IFR in a light plane can only really safely go in about
20% of the instrument weather mother nature can throw at you.

However, an instrument rated pilot can go in about 40% of the VFR
weather that would have been too risky for a VFR-only pilot to attempt,
due to the the risk of weather closing in being too great.

Therefore paradoxically, by getting an instrument rating you will find
yourself flying a lot more VFR than you had before :-)


Margy Natalie wrote:

As of this morning Ron Natalie is an instrument rated pilot!! I guess
all those impromptu extra vacation days due to haze are over :-). This
is great!

Margy


We tend to spend lots of time in the mountains of WVA (often when other
folks are plowing through VFR) not sure if the haze, clouds, mountains
and us will all meet at the same time. We tend to be on the fairly
conservative side although the XM weather makes some decisions easier
then they were before. Of course sometimes it paints up all sorts of
stuff we would never have imagined was out there before :-). We spent
an entire day at our home airport this summer waiting to go to OSH
because it was 700 broken and 1.5 miles. EVERY other airport within 20
miles was reporting CAVU. That really was not a good day!

Margy

M wrote:

Now remember, IFR in a light plane can only really safely go in about
20% of the instrument weather mother nature can throw at you.

Where do you get that fact? Except for icing and altitudes requiring OX
there isn't anything particularly more limiting about light planes over
heavy planes.

kontiki wrote:
M wrote:

Now remember, IFR in a light plane can only really safely go in about
20% of the instrument weather mother nature can throw at you.

Where do you get that fact? Except for icing and altitudes requiring OX
there isn't anything particularly more limiting about light planes over
heavy planes.


I have oxygen. I don't however have a turbocharger so I'm really
practically low side of the reg-required oxygen altitudes. Margy
and I believe in liberal use of O2 (especially now that we have
the system in the plane).

"Margy Natalie" wrote in message
m...
As of this morning Ron Natalie is an instrument rated pilot!! I guess all
those impromptu extra vacation days due to haze are over :-). This is
great!

Concrats to Ron. Of course, a lot of "excuses" have just vanished. :~)
--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO (MTJ)

Yea Ron! (and Margy for helping/waiting!)!

Jer/

In rec.aviation.student Margy Natalie wrote:
As of this morning Ron Natalie is an instrument rated pilot!! I guess
all those impromptu extra vacation days due to haze are over :-). This
is great!

Margy


Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 240 Young Eagles!

Please pass along my congratulations. That's a difficult rating but well
worth the effort. Along with the honor is also the responsiblity of maintaining
currency and expanding experience and competency but the reward is more
flying opportunities than before.

Congrats Margy! Pass on a well done from me as well.
Dudley Henriques

"Margy Natalie" wrote in message
m...
As of this morning Ron Natalie is an instrument rated pilot!! I guess all
those impromptu extra vacation days due to haze are over :-). This is
great!

Margy