Question to the IFR Pilots Out There

Cecil E. Chapman wrote:
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at the
latest.


I probably had only an hour or so as well when I got my license. That
first flight in the clouds was REAL interesting ... but it went OK and
began the gradual process of building confidence and real proficiency in
the system. My very first IFR flight was into Logan ... figured might
as well jump in with both feet!

Actually, I found Logan pretty GA friendly.

Matt

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message ...
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at the
latest.

About 12, roughly evenly split between training and personal flights.
About 18 approaches.

Isn't the Bay area supposed to be great for "harmless" IMC, good for
flying actual approaches?

Actual is good to get but I wouldn't sweat the lack too much. If
you're training at night when you're tired, it's easier.

You can always ask your CFI or an experienced IFR pilot to go with
you, after your rating.

Cheers,
Sydney

Isn't the Bay area supposed to be great for "harmless" IMC, good for
flying actual approaches?

You're right. When I was working on my basic ticket it would be all over
the place, now that I want some of it to be there (for my instrument
training) it is nowhere to be found. Today would have been great for some
real IMC, unfortunately I'm getting over a cold and besides my instructor
doesn't work weekends.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message ...
Isn't the Bay area supposed to be great for "harmless" IMC, good for
flying actual approaches?

You're right. When I was working on my basic ticket it would be all over
the place, now that I want some of it to be there (for my instrument
training) it is nowhere to be found.

ROTFL! Yeah, it works that way, doesn't it! I remember standing
on a ramp next to DH (that's d___ husband in this context) and his
instrument instructor. They'd rushed to the airport for a perfect
IMC morning -- only to find that as they got their clearance, the
clouds almost literally rolled back and the sun poured down. I'd
really never seen anything like it. It was almost like watching a
time-lapse movie, only it was real time.

The CFI turned to DH and said "this would never happen if you were
a student pilot"

I think that all student pilots should make a pact with an instrument
student who has the same instructor. They can both book a flight at
the same time, that way one of them ought to be happy

Cheers,
Sydney

I had 0.6 hours. Like you, I was hoping for more.


"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of
ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get
my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at
the
latest.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

About four. Due to peripheral cues under the hood, I found basic attitude
control more challenging in IMC. It didn't take long to acclimate, but I
wouldn't have wanted to go through the first few minutes of the adjustment
without an instructor.

I'd suggest getting however much dual IMC time you need to fly comfortably
before trying it on your own. But there's no reason to delay the rating
itself, even if you have no IMC practice.

--Gary

3.2 hrs actual
47 hrs total

Trained in the San Francisco Bay area out of Livermore, CA.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/snaray...ation/ifr.html

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of
ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get
my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at
the
latest.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com

I was fortunate to have actual for essentially the whole of my first dual
cross country. We were in the soup from about 2 minutes after takeoff until
we broke out at 50 ft. above minimums. It was also an LDA circle-to-land
approach. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't experience those three
things for the first time on my own!

Right now, I'm at 4.5 actual, 12.7 hood, 7 simulator, ~135 total time.

Jeremy

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of
ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get
my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at
the
latest.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com

Cecil E. Chapman wrote:

For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

I am based in the Northeast US and worked towards my instrument rating
last winter. We are located downwind of Lake Ontario, so lake effect
snow made up a lot of my IMC while training. I had 18 hours of actual
IMC of about 50 hours towards the rating.

Interesting sidebar: A new instructor joined our flight school after
recently moving into the area from the southwest US. I was told that
this instructor has 0 hours of actual IMC. Not sure how someone can
teach when they have no experience in it.

--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
Interesting sidebar: A new instructor joined our flight school after
recently moving into the area from the southwest US. I was told that
this instructor has 0 hours of actual IMC. Not sure how someone can
teach when they have no experience in it.

I'm not surprised at all. I remember reading an AOPA magazine article
mentioning the very same thing. While a few replies to my original thread
didn't seem to think it was an issue that one only had hood time - my
limited experience with real IMC begs me to differ. As you said, with the
hood or foggles on you are still aware of a peripheral 'outside', however
when you are in real IMC the experience is quite different, especially
seeing the quick movement of the cloud texture past your side windows in
your peripheral view.

Don't laugh, but on my first IMC experience as I was approaching the clouds
at my altitude with my CFII on the right; I had this nagging feeling that we
would 'hit' the cloud as if it was a solid object.. Of course, one
logically knows this is not so, but I do remember experiencing the
irrational 'concern' as we were approaching the cloud bank on my first time.

My fondest hope is to get as much real IMC as I can on the road to my
instrument ticket.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com