If I were to get my Instrument Rating........

clayfenderstrat

clayfenderstrat

Well-Known Member
I plan on getting Instrument Rated sometime in the next year, and am trying to do it in the most cost effective way possible. What do you guys think about this schedule? Would you do anything differently? Is there any way to improve this plan?


  1. Start working on a ground course (JEPP book+IR test review)
  2. Take (and hopefully pass) written test
  3. Take a 25 hour simulator course here at Purdue covering IFR navigation, holds, and approaches
  4. Finish up with ~25 hours in an airplane with CFII
  5. Checkride
I know this may seem silly, but I want to try starting this either during spring semester, or next fall semester. Do you think I would be better off going this route rather than getting an instructor for my ground training? Would doing this one step at a time and stretching it out over a semester be a bad idea. I just want some input from some people who have been there. Thanks!
 
Granted, it took me nearly three years, but here was my plan...

For six months I immersed myself in the Jepp text, the IPH and the IFH. I'm a book learner, so this worked great for me. In the meantime, I was still building the required time for the rating.

After becoming pretty solid in the book material, I picked up some approach plates and started flying approaches on Flight Sim. When I came to things I didn't understand, I simply asked the guys on JC for clarification. I spent several months doing this before trying some approaches (in visual conditions) on my own in the aircraft.

I took the written before starting training with the CFII. Was able to finish with the bare minimum of CFII instrument time (which I attribute to becoming well versed in the regs and procedures before hand).

That would be my recommendation - also don't rush it if you don't have to - there's a lot to learn, spend some time with it (but not as much time as I did) :-)
 
Murdoughnut said:
Granted, it took me nearly three years, but here was my plan...

For six months I immersed myself in the Jepp text, the IPH and the IFH. I'm a book learner, so this worked great for me. In the meantime, I was still building the required time for the rating.

After becoming pretty solid in the book material, I picked up some approach plates and started flying approaches on Flight Sim. When I came to things I didn't understand, I simply asked the guys on JC for clarification. I spent several months doing this before trying some approaches (in visual conditions) on my own in the aircraft.

I took the written before starting training with the CFII. Was able to finish with the bare minimum of CFII instrument time (which I attribute to becoming well versed in the regs and procedures before hand).

That would be my recommendation - also don't rush it if you don't have to - there's a lot to learn, spend some time with it (but not as much time as I did) :-)
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I am kind of in the same boat as the OP. After i get my PPL, I would like to start doing the ground prtion of the IR. I am more of a visual learner and i have been looking at King school and Sporty's DVD sets. Do you know or have any reccomendations as to which one to buy? Is the IR training hard?
 
ahsmatt7 said:
I am kind of in the same boat as the OP. After i get my PPL, I would like to start doing the ground prtion of the IR. I am more of a visual learner and i have been looking at King school and Sporty's DVD sets. Do you know or have any reccomendations as to which one to buy? Is the IR training hard?
Click to expand...

Someone on here let me borrow the Sportys DVDs. They were pretty good, but I really think the Jepp text is the best ... much easier to reference back to.

The IR training wasn't too tough for me because I'm pretty confident flying under the hood. It sucked, though. I hated not being able to look outside the aircraft, and having to fly approach after approach without even landing was a massive dry-hump experience. But the first time I flew into an overcast layer was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

The best advice I could give someone is to know the book stuff backwards and forwards before you step in the plane with the CFII - will make adjusting to that type of precision flying much easier (and will save you some money).
 
Starting with the book and getting the written done will help significantly, as well as taking the IR course with Purdue, but be sure you can handle the course load along with your other classes, and remember Purdue combines the instrument and commercial so you might wind up getting both sets of ground in. Your -II will still want to do a few hours of ground with you no matter how much you get done ahead of time.

I had a student come in with the IR written done and it saved him a lot of ground work, and helped him quite a bit in the air, but a lot of the instrument is also material that need be demonstrated in the airplane to have a firm grasp on. If you start now and get the written done and fly in the spring you should be moving at a good pace to finish up in a timely fashion. Feel free to PM me with any questions, I am an -II/MEI at the FBO at KLAF and would be happy to help.
 
How much will that 25 hour course at Purdue cost? And is it college credit? I would just sink that money into software you can play at home at your leisure.

Or do it the way I did it, self study with the books and go fly.

I've yet to get woozy but I did get the leans once. Big time. I was flying in an out of the tops. The clouds were heavy and dark, the sunshine brilliant. The flicker became too much. It took everything I had to focus on the gauges.
 
The course here at Purdue runs a little south of $1100. It includes 25 hours in the sim. I know I can only log 20 of those, but doing the math, that is only $55/hour (flight time and instructor). Not too shabby compared to $130/hour for an airplane+instructor.
 
ahsmatt7 said:
I am kind of in the same boat as the OP. After i get my PPL, I would like to start doing the ground prtion of the IR. I am more of a visual learner and i have been looking at King school and Sporty's DVD sets. Do you know or have any reccomendations as to which one to buy? Is the IR training hard?
Click to expand...

You can demo the first volume of our Private Course here - http://sportys.com/courses/

Looks like the demo is only Private, but the Instrument Course is set up identical. You can watch a video sample of our DVD course here - http://sportys.com/dvdcourses/

The video content on the DVD and online versions is identical. An advantage to the online version, though, is that when we update the course with new graphics or video, it is automatically updated the next time you log in.
 
Honestly I think you have a pretty good game plan, the only thing i would recommend is to try to combine the simulator with the actual flights. For example you go learn and practice holds in the sim, then the next day go do them in the air. I find that the more time that passes between the initial learning and practice to the actual performance severely degrades skill retention; which will end up costing you more in the long run.
 
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