Dumb IFR questions...

[Marauder]

If my life depends on one 20 year old ILS indicator in my old Mooney....

My alternate is going to have weather that is better than 1000’ ceilings.

Consider a few ways of looking at this problem.

1) the alternate that meets regulations... Important for the test.

2) the alternate that will get you to the meeting with your client... Could get expensive with the car rental.

3) the alternate that allows you to live... Very often, the best alternate can be the airport that you departed from. (an hour away and 5 driving hours later....)

This is the part of the IR training I found eye opening.

Knowing the weather challenges is critical to usable IFR flight.

The best part of being this knowledgable about weather...

You have the skill to call off your son's LL baseball game without having to wait another 15 minutes to see another lightning strike.

Tracking storm cells on you iPhone is pretty magical.

Works equally well if your daughter plays softball.

It helps to have the right tools...

Knowledge, practice and hardware.

Knowing how to avoid icing and thunderstorms is important even for the most skilled pilots and planes...

Best regards,

-a-

 

 

For me Anthony, when I pulled up this flight in FlightAware, it was really troubling to see. As I mentioned earlier the entire DelMarVa peninsula was experiencing widespread IFR conditions with ceilings reported as low as 200'. The further south you went, the better the conditions. His original destination was KEVY. An airport that I have flown the LPV35 a number of times. It is extremely flat and if you miss you can easily be vectored over to KILG for the ILS to RWY 1 which can take you down to 200' AGL.  He never attempted the approach because the pilot before him reported a miss and instead flew all the way down to Salisbury MD and flew a couple of RNAV 14 approaches there. The LPV 14 DA is 306 AGL. The ILS on the other end can be flown to 200' AGL. Why not fly it?

 

He then flew back north and I believe attempted two other approaches, one may have been the GPS approach into KGED (DA 250') and then flew by Dover to fly a VOR approach I think into 33N. 

 

We will never know what really happened in that plane but it was troubling to see what transpired.

 

And as for your equipment comment. You have flown in my plane and you know that I am a strong proponent of redundancy. Even before all the glass, I flew with dual ILS capable receivers and indicators. With the technology out there today, building in redundancy isn't that hard or expensive.

[carusoam]

Trying not to accidently make IFR flight sound dangerous...

There are so many plan Bs available today.

Additional ILS indicator...

Portable GPS...

Portable Radio/VOR/ILS...

Portable ADHARS...

Take a MAPA class and do a No Gyro / Radar approach (on my list of things to do...)

Chris,

I'm thinking that open conversation about the subject will be greatly helpful for somebody before the stress of being in IMC with a gyro failure happens.

Stress has a way of shutting down the cognitive process. It tries to focus on one thing, where it used to focus on all things...

There isn't much reasoning behind re-entering IMC when unable...PIC judgement in this case appears to be as clouded as the weather...

Bring extra O2...?

Best regards,

-a-

[HRM]

Stress has a way of shutting down the cognitive process. It tries to focus on one thing, where it used to focus on all things...

 

 

It can also energize it. To quote Al Stewart (Almost Lucy): She says it sharpens your perception; When your back's against the wall...

[midlifeflyer]

The ego here may have started with low fuel and the fear of being accused later of allowing the emergency to happen and consequently getting sanctioned. 

 

I think you are correct about the concern about being sanctioned, or at least being called upon to do a lot of paperwork. But I think that's less about ego than it is ignorance. When I do my FAA enforcement seminars, I discuss declaring an emergency as the exact opposite - in many situations it's an effective way to avoid an enforcement action.

 

I've declared emergencies twice; once was in solid IMC in the Rocky Mountains when I lost most of my manifold pressure. The aftermath was terrible - as I mentally flagellated myself for what I perceived as my own part in creating it. OTOH, my telephone interview with a FSDO Inspector was downright enjoyable.

 

But you are also right that we really don;t know what he was thinking or why he made the decisions he did.