Pilots: Best way for IFR rating?

[dhoward]

Pics or ban.

[Dantilla]

Thanx, guys!

Sorry, I have no pics on this computer. I can post some tomorrow. My Bonanza is an F33A, and just because it was CAVU today I ditched work and flew it to Tillimook Oregon where there is an old WWII blimp hanger that houses a great museum. Pretty cool to taxi up to the museum doors and gawk at airplanes for a couple of hours. Pretty amazing just to see a wooden structure big enough to house eight blimps.

A while back I had a partnership in an older V-tail. My parner in that airplane got his instrument rating because it is overcast here so often. Once you punch up through a couple thousand feet, you're in the sunshine on top. Same thing coming home. Just being able to do an ILS approach will easily double the amount of flying here.

Even VFR, I'm quickly getting spoiled having moving maps and an autopilot coupled to the GPS.

The Bonanza is a great airplane to fly. I never knew why some pilots complain about the way Mooneys land until I started flying the Bonanza. After not flying one for several years, it came back very quickly.
Roomy, comfy, gobs of climb, great visability, fast.......

[Joeaksa]

Did my Comm/Inst in a Debbie, the normal tail version of the Bonanza. Very good airplane but fast and can get away from you in IFR conditions, thus their "killer" reputations.

Get a good autopilot (at least 2 axis) and do not push the redline. If you get ice, climb or descend.

Todays avionics packages make it easy, you guys needed to fly the old
"two needle RMI's" on a NDB approach like we had years ago. Still surprised I survived as long as I did, especially some of those NDB approaches into Russia/China. Night, thunderstorms in mountainous areas, it was really a guess at times.

Get the license and learn...

[rattlsnak]

I did mine at the local FBO. Flew once a week, sometimes two, and had a ground school once a week. Never had to "go back over anything because i got rusty". It took @ 4-5 months.

Joe, Mike..You guys crack me up with your CAVU flights.. Must be nice! Just finished up a three day trip that was blocked to 20 hours, and I swear 15 of those hours were hard IMC. (Had the luxory of doing ATL- JFK-YYZ-SYR-YUL-BUF all week!) All I get in the winter is Northeast stuff due to seniority!

Joe,. NDBs?? Geez, they took all of the plates away from us last year.

[bigchillcar]

this thread kinda makes me sad. i flew as a lear captain for years..gold seal cfii, mei before that. i'm only 40, but walked away from aviation about two years ago..haven't been in a plane since. stress of being on call on-demand all the time..cargo, charter, int'l air ambo..and a couple close calls in some poorly maintained lears were enough. i wound up with a case of ptsd from the chronic nature of it all. hats off to you guys still doing it..i probably should have shucked 135 in favor of 121 a lonnnnng time ago, but i was digging the variety and the fact that early on, you could make 6 figures if you flew your nuts off..which i very literally almost did.

i don't like the quickie classes. most of my years instructing was advanced ratings and certificates, particularly the instrument. i liked a guy to have his written done, spend plenty of time on basic attitude instrument flying, slowly phase in approaches after practicing typical 'patterns' and lots of actual. i'm a big fan of preparing your own tailored checklists for the airplane you plan to fly often..both normal and emergency procedures. that first time after earning your rating and you're in the ****..they're very comforting. fortunately, most of my students were mature men who valued quality over quick..and i was confident when i signed them off. i only had one guy ever bust a checkride in dozens of signoffs, different examiners..and it was an ndb of course.. anyway, a 'retired' pilots 2 cents..
ryan

[304065]

A few thoughts:

1. PARK the Doctor Killer for your first few hours of approach practice. It's too fast, too complicated, too much to do too soon. RENT a C-172 or the slowest, cheapest IFR-capable machine you can find. You want to become acclimated to the idea of needle capture without blowing through it. You want to be able to track the localizer and glide slope without having to fiddle with the extra knob. There will be plenty of time to come smoking in from altitude at 170 knots, get dirty and shoot a coupled approach. It was far more useful to me to get in afixed-gear, fixed-prop machine and drone along for 90 minutes watching things develop and learning situational awareness. Remember the feeling you had on your first VFR takeoff? Multiply it times ten.

2. BUY a PCATD simulator. I have a box with a yoke and throttles on it that feels like the real thing. It uses the actual approach charts, frequencies and everything. You can log hour after hour after hour practicing holding pattern entries, intercepts, enroute tracking, vertical navigation and every kind of approach and still be within steps of the refrigerator.

3. SEEK OUT ACTUAL. The hood is great, but make sure you get controlled exposure to real IFR conditions, with precip, bumps and the rest. The first time you climb into the soup by yourself you will be thankful for the experience.

4. WEATHER, WEATHER, WEATHER. Weather is THE most important thing you learn as an IFR pilot. (OK, the second most important thing. Learning to keep the shiny side up is the most important thing).

5. TURN OFF THE BOX. Until you can perform VOR orientation and tracking, NDB orientation and tracking and near-perfect ILS approaches, keep the GPS turned off. Yes, it will aid your situational awareness immeasurably. But the ability to see where you are on the moving map takes the fun and the headwork out of being able to turn that needle with a from indication and cross check that radial with another nav radio. Someday, that fancy box might blow a fuse, and you want to be able to seamlessly eliminate it from your scan and make it home.

You do NOT have to learn Range navigation, however! (Old range charts are fun to look at though)

6. HAVE FUN. The first time you look out the window and see the small droplets of water that form in the clouds, or the first time the grey sky gets brighter and brighter and then tears away and you're on top of a carpet of cotton balls, take a moment to reflect on the fact that you're wearing sunglasses when everyone on the Earth is using an umbrella. Damn good invention, these airplanes.

JFC

[Dantilla]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Get a good autopilot (at least 2 axis) and do not push the redline.

Autopilot.....Check.

With an IO-550, the F33 can hit redline while straight & level.



I have about 300 hours of Bonanza time, so I'm pretty familiar with how quickly it will gain speed if the nose drops just a bit. Pretty quickly!

John- The PCATD is a good idea I really hadn't thought about. I will most likely start in the Bonanza as all of the controls are becoming second nature to me. Jumping around different rental Cessnas is fine for VFR goofing off, but I think consistantly flying the same airplane is a plus while under the hood.

I am already trying to utilize the equipment as much as possible. Even VFR, I am using the ILS when landing.

Thanks again to everybody's comments. When I begin formal training, I'll let you guys in on all of the triumpths, frustrations, and fun. I'll even let you know if I fly a Skyhawk instead!