BLUE BIRD WEATHER TO DARK SKIES:
INSIDE THE INSTRUMENT RATING
Some days seem ideal for flying. The sky can look clear and blue. The winds calm. And sun warm. As spring arrives, pilots throughout the Atlantic smile with compelling thoughts of spring escapes. Still, sometimes the weather can turn fickle. I can recall, last year for example, flying through clear, blue, skies for a fabulous adventure on the picturesque island of Martha°s Vineyard, off the Cape Cod coastline. It started well with clear skies and a forecast for continued good weather. Such weather reports in hand we enjoyed a wonderful flight from Connecticut to Martha°s Vineyard followed by a restful afternoon on the beach, only to suddenly notice an increasingly dark and foreboding array of clouds quickly moving toward the island.
ManyVFR pilots, of course, have described similar experiences. Many days start well and turn, suddenly, dark. Or, other days can start out less than ideal and turn out stellar while VFR pilots have already been forced to cancel flying plans. Many pilots, of course, must cope with these challenges including Sport Pilots and Private Pilots and Commercial Pilots lacking Instrument Ratings. Still, there is an option for both Private Pilots and Commercial Pilots without such a clearance:
The Instrument Rating.
An Instrument Rating, of course, offers the legal ability to fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and during less than ideal conditions. When I earned my Private Pilot License I knew an Instrument Rating was a necessity for my wife’s Cheryl and my goals. Almost from the start we became quickly tired of cancelling flights, we have never found it pleasant to scud run home at lower altitudes, and too often, we would experience great worry when clouds required that we return home dodging clouds in order to follow VFR Flight Rules.
Still, is this rating fun? How challenging is the training? How long can it take? In truth, the options for IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) Training are varied. Some programs suggest that it can be completed in 10 days! That’s correct: 10 days. In my case I found the total flight hours comparable to that required for a Private Pilot License, but the necessity of study more intense. My training good or bad took just under a year.
What IS the best approach? Like so many educational endeavors, there is no single, correct answer. I completed my training in a Piper Arrow a complex airplane with retractable gear and a constant speed propeller. In contrast, most folks at my base airport train in either Piper Warriors or Cessna 172’s. Simpler, slower, aircraft can hasten the course of study. I know one person who attended the 10 day program at American Flyers in New Jersey. I spoke to another who employed a program which used his plane at his home airport. Truly, the menu of offerings is wide.
The simulator, a tool used in many programs, can be quite beneficial in offering an opportunity to learn IFR skills outside of the cockpit. The simulator allows the pilot to practice reading approach charts, execute multiple approaches ranging from the ILS (Instrument Landing System), to VOR Approaches, and some simulators even offer the ability to practice GPS Approaches. Then, when the skills have achieved at least a basic mastery, these can be honed in flight. Of note, depending on the type of simulator, up to 20 hours of simulator training can be used toward the rating.
Is it fun? Fun ia a connotation that may not be the most accurate nor appropriate term. Understand, in the plane, forget enjoying the scenery. Forget vistas. Instrument students almost always wear some kind of visual limiting device which limits sight to the panel. In this way, instrument conditions are simulated and students fly while relying solely on instruments rather than visual cues. In my case, even during my long cross country to multiple airports on the Eastern seaboard, I never enjoyed even a moment of coastline scenery. It’s challenging. It’s rewarding. It did not seem like fun.
Instrument Training? The program reviews all the skills necessary for private pilot training while setting a higher standard and inserting newer, more complex, skills. Truly, this requires much more precise flying skills than necessary for VFR conditions. In addition it requires a greater knowledge of weather. Tower communications are also more demanding as instrument students must file a flight plan, receive complex clearances, and be able to modify flight plans while enroute.
Costs? It°s expensive. Did I tell you it’s expensive. Yes, it’s expensive! What might you ask a prospective flight school and the specific instructor you may utilize?
Consider these questions as a start:
1) How many students have you personally trained for an Instrument
Rating?
2) How many hours have students typically completed for the rating?
3) How long did these students take to earn the rating? (Statistical
folks might ask for hard data: Means and Modes).
4) Can you provide names and numbers of past graduates?
Understand, not all flight departments nor all flight instructors specialize in advanced, IFR training? That means that while you might find a CFII (Certified Flight Instructor Instrument) who has trained many many private pilot students, they may have trained very, very few instrument students. They may still be good. Or not. Would you trust a newly minted physician? It°s your call. Your decision. But these questions can help guide you to an informed choice.
The rating? The benefits? Truly, this rating can extend, refine, and polish flying skills, add a considerable range of knowledge, off skills to locate and land at new airports with less angst, and offer the ability to reach and leave flying destinations without the fears of lower clouds or darkened skies so often experienced by VFR pilots. Imagine a 2000 foot ceiling with sunny skies at 4,000 feet. Imagine flying in sunny skies, descending quickly below the deck,° and easily landing with that 2,000 foot ceiling. That’s what an instrument rated pilot can enjoy.
Is it worth the expense? I thought so. Only you can decide.
By TONY CRESPI an Instrument rated Private Pilot
with Complex and High Performance Endorsements.
Based at Hartford-Brainard Airport, he and his wife Cheryl own a Mooney M20K.