Began the day VFR pilot, ended up Instrument Rated!

[cbarry]

Congratulations!  

[whiskytango]

Congratulations!  File IFR on every flight to help learn the fine points of IFR.

[mooneygirl]

4 hours ago, Mooneymite said:

@mooneygirl, in your instrument training, what percentage of the flight time was simulated (hood) time and what percentage was actually in the clouds?

What part of the training was the most fun?

Hey there,  It is hard for me to say what the most fun was.  I really like taking that hood off and the runway is right there.  It was kind of fun to master the DME Arc.  Mostly I really enjoyed learning more and more about aviation and safety. The formation training I did helped with my IFR. I tend to be a little OCD. I had two instructors and the examiner himself that said that if I was able to not try for perfection so much it would be better.  I had no GPS, no autopilot. Just two VOR heads and a DME.  My new to me 530W is going in with the new transponder soon. 

 

                                                                   Dual                                  Simulated Instrument           Flight Simulator          Instrument Dual       Instrument Ground

 

Totals

4.00

60.75

2.20

63.35

21

[mooneygirl]

2 hours ago, cliffy said:

Congrats!  You now have a license to learn instrument flying. Go out an learn but learn carefully at first. Maybe set yourself some high minimums for the first 100 hrs (even airline drivers have high mins for the first 100 hrs in new airplanes) to get your feet wet slowly. 

Nothing, nothing replaces experience. Currency in IFR is mandatory!  Min currency for the FARs is not enough

Again, congrats, you did good!  Hope our paths cross sometime. Lunch is on me if we do. 

GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!

I used the AOPA template for minimums.  Right now most every approach [in actual] is double the minimums.  4000 ft from freezing level/icing. Wind is dependent on whether it is down the runway or not. I flew 130 hours last year, VFR. This is going to be awesome sauce.

[mike_elliott]

Make sure you get some actual IMC in your portfolio, with an instructor at first until you are comfortable. It shouldnt be different than when under the hood, but it is....Now is the time to start the real learning of IMC flight! Great job on passing the hard rating, the one that will make you the best pilot!

[JohnB]

13 hours ago, Bartman said:

Now go find some easy IMC 

+1 on that recommendation to seek out and fly some easy imc  @mooneygirlas soon as possible! That was one of the best things my instrument instructor advised me to do and it was fantastic. So I would wake up early to intentionally find easy imc (ie. marine layer OVC at 1000 feet or so) and go do it! It will increase your confidence and make it part of your skill set that you can do it. I still do exactly that and fly approaches even if it’s CAVU for more practice. 

And most importantly.... WAY TO GO JOLIE!!! 

[mooneygirl]

1 hour ago, mike_elliott said:

Make sure you get some actual IMC in your portfolio, with an instructor at first until you are comfortable. It shouldnt be different than when under the hood, but it is....Now is the time to start the real learning of IMC flight! Great job on passing the hard rating, the one that will make you the best pilot!

Hi Mike

Thank you!  I have four hours of actual in my training. It was very valuable.  I know I am a newbie, but I have a great education, the best airplane, and a healthy dose of caution.

[yvesg]

Félicitations Jolie. This will help your travelling a lot. Let me know whenever/if you come on this side of the continent. This might be where you will need your new privileges the most.

Yves

[DonMuncy]

Jolie,

The first flight or two in actual IMC without a CFII on board will likely be the scariest flying you will ever do. The sooner you do it, the easier it is. Pick out a day when the ceilings are 3000 or 3500 feet, and relatively thin. Go up alone. If you take another competent pilot with you, you may subconsciously rely on them; just what you don't want. Climb up through the clouds. Then go back down into them and spend some time to get comfortable. 

On the next flight or two, pick days with low clouds at you departure and easy ceilings at your destination.

Then you are ready to slowly start picking out ever decreasing destination ceilings, down to whatever you feel comfortable using as your personal minimums. I know, there are a bunch of good pilots that fly to legal minimums as a matter of course. But in my case, I don't fly enough real IMC to comfortably plan on legal minimums.

I have always contended that flying on instruments is easy when you are at altitude. Going up into the clouds, brings on some moments of semi-panic until your mind switches to instruments. And the real puckering comes in when you are descending before you break out.

Have fun.

[Bartman]

Something I did the first few times in IMC was wear a hat or visor. I would pull it down shortly before entering IMC and get set on the instrument scan and felt "just like old times".  I found IMC alone the first few times much different from training. As that initial shock wore off I would raise the hat or visor and of course stay on the scan, but I found it a useful transition. Still use it sometimes if it has been a while since last IMC, and it's there if I need it. Hope this helps you or another pilot as much as it did me. 

[Browncbr1]

Congrats!   Your mooney is now 3x more useful!  

[Bob_Belville]

Actual IMC is much easier that flying with a hood. But it is somewhat different. You'll be great at it.

[Ned Gravel]

On 2017-11-18 at 9:05 PM, mike_elliott said:

Congrats Jolie! Ill say the same thing I tell all of my instrument students, stay out of ice and stay out of thunderstorms and you will probably live.

I am with Mike on this.  Those are my only real non-starters.  

Since you can now do more, you have the opportunity to exercise the best learning license in GA.  

Congrats Buttercup......

[madjano]

Congrats! So jelly!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[thinwing]

Hey there..congrats...as far as dipping your feet in actual...coastal ovc at 700 ovc is about as benign as I can think of.June gloom on the socal coast is now a thing of the past...never any danger of turb or icing and living where you do ,your instrument ticket just doubled your utility...take it easy over the Sierras though...always get good tops reports and avoid frontal crossing for now...