Getting "actual" IMC

BravoHotel

BravoHotel

Well-Known Member
Curious about this, not so much now, when I get "up there" and this becomes a question I have flown in AZ and NV and have a grand total of .5 actual.

When the WX is crappy go out and shoot some approaches in it?

Do you "double eyes" get a lot of actual?

I recall one my ATP instructors going in for an interview and he reported that the interviewer asked "Where is all your actual?" He said he had flown primarily in AZ, they didn't seem to like that.

Any suggestions of getting cloud time will be appreciated.
 
Hawks said:
Curious about this, not so much now, when I get "up there" and this becomes a question I have flown in AZ and NV and have a grand total of .5 actual.

When the WX is crappy go out and shoot some approaches in it?

Do you "double eyes" get a lot of actual?

I recall one my ATP instructors going in for an interview and he reported that the interviewer asked "Where is all your actual?" He said he had flown primarily in AZ, they didn't seem to like that.

Any suggestions of getting cloud time will be appreciated.
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I used to teach in AZ...I know how you feel. Trips to Socal did the trick for me, but I was even still pretty light on actual. I think I had 13 and change when I left. :dunno:
 
Fly in Ohio and you will find plenty of actual. You wont be able to fly in it safely unless you have the proper equipment. I have tons of actual compared to instructors/students in the south half of the states as a result of flying up here. Fall and spring tend to be the best times for actual. Winter has tons of actual with icing and the summer tends to be thunderstorms.

Actual is something you would want to have experience with as it isn't like the foggles at all. Especially now since the Colgan crash occurring in actual conditions, I could see airlines maybe looking at that during the interview.
 
I go to school in Daytona, which tends to be like Arizona, from what I'm told. Basically, to get actual, I either have to go fly when it's IFR, or take some crazy long trip and find IFR. Best thing is probably to wait until its IFR at the field, and go if possible. I try to file for an altitude that keeps me in the clouds, to get the time. Go on a short cross country, shoot the approach at the end, making a landing, and come back.
 
Maurus said:
Fly in Ohio and you will find plenty of actual. You wont be able to fly in it safely unless you have the proper equipment. I have tons of actual compared to instructors/students in the south half of the states as a result of flying up here. Fall and spring tend to be the best times for actual. Winter has tons of actual with icing and the summer tends to be thunderstorms.

Actual is something you would want to have experience with as it isn't like the foggles at all. Especially now since the Colgan crash occurring in actual conditions, I could see airlines maybe looking at that during the interview.
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I'd support that statement....Just about the only thing Ohio is good for.
 
I got a good chunck of Actual during my instrument training flying in Northern California in the spring time.
 
East Texas was great for it.
500 OVC and 2 SM, OAT 20C? Great, let's go shoot approaches!!!
 
KMOD 110153Z 00000KT 2SM BR OVC007 08/06
 KMER 110145Z 00000KT 3SM BR OVC004 08/08
KMCE 110153Z AUTO 00000KT 3SM BR OVC003 07/07
[FONT=Monospace,Courier]KMAE 110153Z AUTO 34003KT 3SM BR OVC003 07/06

We are into our second week of this straight and this shows improvement. Most of the day it was at M1/4SM VV001. My instrument student has logged as much actual as I had when I did my CFII. The down side is you have to stay close to the ground..by 2000 its bright and sunny.
[/FONT]
 
vikingair said:
[FONT=Monospace,Courier]by 2000 its bright and sunny.
[/FONT]
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The worst thing with flying actual is when you need sunglasses in the clouds. I think it actually is brighter in the cloud tops than over the clouds. For some reason, I always get an altitude right below the tops. :(

TGatch said:
I'd support that statement....Just about the only thing Ohio is good for.
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At least you don't have lake effect snow down there. We get a good day to fly and the airport surface is still all ice.
 
Thanks :) The part about moving to Ohio is probably a bit out of the picture, unless someone wants to offer me a flying job there :p I have a lot of up/down time in 206s :rawk: and a brand new shiney tail wheel endorsment.

Saving up some pittance and flying a XC once or twice a month to So Cal from Vegas might work, have to actively hunt for IFR conditions, it would be good for currency, am current, but just by simming it.
 
I literally get actual by renting and just flying somewhere to shoot approaches. Sometimes I will grab a friend, I will fly to and airport, he will fly home both getting some actual. This is the perfect time of year in the bay area because the fog layers linger all day. And you can pick how much actual you want by the airport, some are down to mins some have plenty of room to get it. Its been awesome.
 
vikingair said:
KMOD 110153Z 00000KT 2SM BR OVC007 08/06
 KMER 110145Z 00000KT 3SM BR OVC004 08/08
KMCE 110153Z AUTO 00000KT 3SM BR OVC003 07/07
[FONT=Monospace,Courier]KMAE 110153Z AUTO 34003KT 3SM BR OVC003 07/06

We are into our second week of this straight and this shows improvement. Most of the day it was at M1/4SM VV001. My instrument student has logged as much actual as I had when I did my CFII. The down side is you have to stay close to the ground..by 2000 its bright and sunny.
[/FONT]
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I shot approaches into MOD yesterday then went to KLHM for an approach, then back to LVK. Got a good amount of actual and they were down to mind it was awesome.
 
Maurus said:
Fly in Ohio and you will find plenty of actual. You wont be able to fly in it safely unless you have the proper equipment.
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Wa-wa-what?

What constitutes the proper equipment? Why can't you fly in IMC in Ohio in a Skyhawk that's simply IFR equipped?
 
Maurus said:
Fly in Ohio and you will find plenty of actual. You wont be able to fly in it safely unless you have the proper equipment. Fall and spring tend to be the best times for actual.
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Exactly, same here in Nebraska.

All of our instrument students get very excited to fly, during spring and fall.
Right now they are a bit mopey.

I think I actually have most of my Actual time as an instructor.
 
mtsu_av8er said:
Wa-wa-what?

What constitutes the proper equipment? Why can't you fly in IMC in Ohio in a Skyhawk that's simply IFR equipped?
Click to expand...

I believe he's saying that this time of year it's really easy to build ice if you're flying around in the clouds. Hence the spring time suggestion.
 
I don't have much actual, only 20 hours but I would suggest taking someone with you on your first couple of trips on the clouds. It isn't like the foggles, disorientation does happen. Don't assume all CFII's have actual experience either, I think this rule needs to be changed. Sadly the clouds don't taste like marshmellows either.
 
I instructed out of TLH.... fog was a fairly common occurence during certain times of the year. The good thing with teaching PPL's is that they need: 1. instrument time and 2. presolo guys need stalls and steepturns and such.

Anytime it would fog in I would be able to justify launching around 90% of the time. I would file local IFR, get on top and cancel. We would do a full lesson of manuevers, and then reopen and ILS it back in.

I still consider that nothing is more invaluable than a PPL seeing the soup for real instead of a hood. My first time in a cloud was when I was almost done with my instrument rating. The difference between being able to cheat a bit out of your peripheral and having no choice but to trust your instruments fully is astounding.

I think in the end all of my PPL students ended up having at least some actual in their books....
 
Stomp16 said:
I believe he's saying that this time of year it's really easy to build ice if you're flying around in the clouds. Hence the spring time suggestion.
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:yeahthat: That was the first thing that came to my mind with the cold snap in the US. If you go out in a C172 looking for "actual" now, or when it cool, please please make sure you know the freezing level in your wx brief. Keep an eye on the oat gauge too.
 
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