Passed Instrument Checkride in Mooney

[201er]

Hey all. I passed the instrument checkride in my 201 today! I really got my butt kicked. I had a hard time on my VFR flight to pick up the examiner, so you can only imagine how it was taking a test under the conditions. Winds were gusty and howling. As much as 50knots aloft. The enroute portion was by far the easiest part but then all the approaches began with irregular holds, failures, and no time to breath. He really put me through the ringer but I managed through it and passed. I filed IFR going home and even went through a little cloud!

PS I just got my halo and tried it today for the first time and even wore it for the checkride. It's fairly comfortable (squeezes a little where it sits). The voice clairty is pristine and volume more than sufficient. I was actually able to turn down the volume knobs on my radios. I used to have to keep them maxed out with David Clark, middle with Bose, and now barely any with Halo. I can't tell yet if the passive noise cancellation beats the Bose active. I have a feeling that the noise cancellation of the Bose is better but the preamp on the halo is more powerful. So I'm not sure if the Halo gives better clarity as the result of better noise cancellation rather than better amplification. But I'm pretty happy with it and will have to choose long and hard to decide which I prefer.

[rbridges]

congrats on the ticket.  I hope to join the club some day.

 

[gregwatts]

The instrument ticket is the hardest one! Congrats! Now use it as often as you can....even on severe clear days. I live in Florida and I file everywhere.

[Cabanaboy]

Congrats!

[74657]

Congrats!  Welcome to the club!

[Mac201]

Good job!

[Txbyker]

Congrats Mike!  Great accomplishment. 

[DaV8or]

Good job!! Your story sounds like mine, but I didn't have howling winds and I did it in a 172. So, I guess I'm saying I did exactly the same thing, just totally different.

Seriously, good job! Now, go out and bust some clouds!

[MooneyMitch]

What a great accomplishment!  Congratulations on your success.

[John Pleisse]

Huge-ah Mike. Sorry I missed you at FDK with the group two weeks ago. File and go Baby!!

[aviatoreb]

Yay!!!

[flight2000]

Congrats on the ticket!!!  If it would have been easy, it wouldn't have been a true check ride...   Now imagine doing that for your MEI and trying to shoot a VOR approach on one fan... now that was exciting...

On the Halo's, the wire "headband" will bend so that's something that's easy to adjust in order to relieve the pressure.

Brian

[carusoam]

The familiar site of a Mooney above the clouds.

Gotta love IFR flight, now share it with somebody else. 

Best regards,

-a-

[PilotDerek]

Greatr job! I hope to get that done next year.

[MATTS875]

Congrats...

[jlunseth]

Congratulations Mike.  That is a big accomplishment, and makes your Mooney much more useful.

Now if you really want a halo, join Angel Flight.  Just sayin'.

[Seth]

Congrats Mike!  I knew you were working hard at it when we met up at FDK.  Glad you go it done - now you'll be able to make any other meet unless the sky falls below your personal minimums.  Good job!  You'll be amazed how trips open up now that you don't have to worry about a cloud layer.  You just file and go (with proper planning of course).

File a lot over the next few months - make it ingrained in your system.

-Seth

[fantom]

Well done, especially in that WX. Now the real learning starts, sans testing.

[jetdriven]

Grats - as others have said, now the real learning begins. File early and often, get used to the system and speaking the language even in severe clear, and you'll be much more comfortable when it counts. 

[mooneyman]

Congrats!   

Since getting my IFR cert a year ago, I have completed numerous trips that never would have been possible VFR.

Enjoy and be safe!

[DrBill]

Awesome.. I remember mine like it was yesterday...

BILL