VFR into IMC- Update

[robert7467]

Guys, I decided that I have a long road ahead of me, and I am now well aware that a PPL is just the beginning. As of now I consider myself as a local VFR pilot until I get further training. I am not necessarily saying that I am not going to do any XC, but if I do, my minimums are much higher. To better prepare myself for starting my IFR ticket I have ordered the following books:

 

Weather Flying

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot's Survival Manual

The Killing Zone: How & Why Pilots Die

Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying

Instrument Flying

 

Once those are read thoroughly, and with understanding I will begin my commercial/instrument training and take a more professional approach to my expensive hobby.

 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

I would encourage you to do long cross countries, that is what flying is all about. Just make sure the weather is OK. You will be surprised how far you can go VFR. You are never going to learn to fly reading a book. Not that I'm discouraging you from learning all you can, but the only way to make sense of it all is to get out there.

[rob]

I bought my Mooney to travel. They are not designed as a local machine, they are made to go the distance. My 10 hour checkout in the M20C took me from MS to AL, TN, LA, and AR. I have flown VFR from California to Mississippi, from Mississippi to NW Montana and Idaho, and multiple times from Mississippi to Michigan. It's really not that hard to do. Like N201MK said, you can go a long way VFR if you're careful about the weather. I'll add flexible with your schedule to the list also.

[Rwsavory]

Guys, I decided that I have a long road ahead of me, and I am now well aware that a PPL is just the beginning. As of now I consider myself as a local VFR pilot until I get further training. I am not necessarily saying that I am not going to do any XC, but if I do, my minimums are much higher. To better prepare myself for starting my IFR ticket I have ordered the following books:

 

Weather Flying

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot's Survival Manual

The Killing Zone: How & Why Pilots Die

Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying

Instrument Flying

 

Once those are read thoroughly, and with understanding I will begin my commercial/instrument training and take a more professional approach to my expensive hobby.

 

This makes a lot of sense.  Good luck and happy flying.

[robert7467]

Thanks, maybe because its spring/early summer I have been seeing alot of buildup in the clouds, and when summer kicks in and the drought kicks in, I wont see as much buildup and more likely to venture out. Who knows, only time and training will tell.

[jlunseth]

Robert, I like your reading list but I think you are putting off doing your instrument too long. It would take me months to get through those books. You are going to pick up some of what is in them in an instrument ground school, and that is what I think you should do. Sign up for an instrument ground school, that will take awhile but you will be learning the theory behind the instruments, and you will also be picking up a good deal of information on weather. You have two years after you pass the written to get your rating. If you want to read those books to back up your instrument ground school learning I would say go for it.

The single most interesting, complicated, and difficult part of pilot learning for me, understanding that I fly many long cross countries, is weather. There is much more to it than you will get in a basic course. You might consider taking one of Scott Dennestaedt's live seminars. www.avwxworkshops.com Weather for long trips is a different animal than for short jaunts around the patch, for one thing you do not have the local familiarity that you do in your own backyard, and for another, you are often looking at conditions four hours in the future at a very specific location (i.e. right over that airport in Denver you want to land at), and it is more challenging.

I would not bother with commercial for now. It is interesting and fun, but most of the maneuvers you will learn have little or no application in real life piloting, they are just a way of getting more in touch with your aircraft. What you will learn in a good instrument course is much more useful, and it is also useful to get through your instrument rating and start to fly in the IFR/ATC system. That is real life for most Mooney pilots, chandelles and Lazy-8's are just for fun.

[rob]

I would disagree with jlunseth and would recommend doing the instrument and commercial together. Why? because that's what I did! But seriously, there is a lot that you can learn in the commercial syllabus, and it will make you a better pilot under VFR and IFR.

 

While I agree that the chandelles and lazy 8s are fun, along with the other commercial maneuvers, I also believe they make us better pilots. The commercial standard is designed to give you a better feel for what the plane is capable of and it will improve your stick and rudder skills. While some folks claim that the commercial maneuvers have little or no application in day to day flying, they can and will save your bacon in the event that you need to be familiar with those boundaries. The emergency descent alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion. You could have used it instead of pummeling near VNE down through a "hole" in the clouds.

[robert7467]

Thats what I was thinking. Jeppeson has the commercial and IFR under one syllabus and when I was taking the written crash course, they also did commercial which wasnt that many more questions than the PPL, so to me it makes sense. As far as the overload of books goes, I really want to dig deep and understand weather instead of just reading metars, and really know what to look for as far as the "gotcha's" are concerned (illusions), and other aeromedical, and decision making issues.

[tomn]

I agree with Jim, keep flying those 50nm trips, Mine were to two different airports that were just over the required range - good practice. The only other thought I would add is to be sure not to get too bogged down in your reading and studies that you don't get to the actual IFR training. It is time concuming and will take a while but worth every minute of it. Books did not work for me - I tried several of them. I finally bought the King program and listend to it repeatedly with driving long trips for work over time.

Either way, find what works for you and stick to it. Focusing on the weather is a good thing - much to learn. Also, be sure your CFII is a good one who pushes you. Have at it and enjoy the challenge!

Tom

[tomn]

Robert, one more question. Are you promoting some new type of uniform for pilots while flying - just curious...

[robert7467]

Uniform? Those are valuable navigational tool. The dick stick on my pick helps determine north and south. East and west is just lucky guess. As far as uniforms, in my profile pic, the only uniform is David Clark headsets.