Low IFR Practice

PhilosopherPilot

PhilosopherPilot

Well-Known Member
For those of you not in the northeast, we have been socked in with 4 days of crap. (Today it finally broke.) I chose yesterday to take advantage of the weather, and get some practice in low IFR.

I called the local FBO, and reserved a plane and instructor. (I don't feel that comfortable in low IFR, single pilot and rusty...) I get there, and they tell me that they don't do instrument instruction with less than 1000 feet ceilings. Well pardon me, but doesn't that defeat my entire purpose of getting low IFR practice and experience?

And for those wondering, yes, the ceilings were 200 feet above the MDA for this airport... **Sigh**

G
 
are you intrument rated already? then it shouldnt have been a big deal...not really instruction..its you as pic with an instructor there for comfort. I was gona get up in the soup too, but the airmet tango was more like a gailforce wind and worsening by the hour...so we talked about commercial ground stuff and called it a night.
 
Yes, I am instrument rated already. I actually made that point, that it was more for safety and comfort than actual instruction, but it fell on deaf ears. The funny thing is, I could have rented and gone by myself because it wouldn't be instruction then. Wierd...

G
 
Might just be safety!

I'd take students out to the valley and we'd do approaches in low IMC into Stockton during 'Tule Fog' season.

Now looking back, flying around a Cessna 172 with an engine that's been shock cooled 5 times a day since the last overhaul wasn't quite so smart. If you lose an engine above glidepath, you can probably eek it onto the runway, or at least airport property. But if you lose it downwind or on the flight back to your home airport, I'd hate to think of the possibilities.
 
Sure, I understand that risk, but if I never feel comfortable in low IFR, I feel that I would be less safe than if I took some risks to practice in bad wx. I know for a fact that I would be sweating pretty badly if I had to shoot an approach to minima... I have shot a few real approaches, but I have always broken out after about 15 seconds after the FAF or GS intercept.

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G
 
Dumb rule if you ask me. I understand why the flight school does it, but at the same time there's no substitute for real, low IFR experience. I used to love going up in Cessnas (ones I knew were reliably maintained of course) on nice, foggy, 200-1/2 days. Terrific practice, and great fun ... at least to me!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sure, I understand that risk, but if I never feel comfortable in low IFR, I feel that I would be less safe than if I took some risks to practice in bad wx. I know for a fact that I would be sweating pretty badly if I had to shoot an approach to minima... I have shot a few real approaches, but I have always broken out after about 15 seconds after the FAF or GS intercept.

[/ QUOTE ]As others said probably a safety rule or one imposed by the operation's insurance.

If you call around, I'm sure that you can find a place where they will fly approaches in lower conditions. It was a while ago, but there are a couple of =real= missed approaches in my logbook from my instrument training days, including a real missed from an ILS.
 
Low IFR in a single engine airplane with no redudant systems is absolutely foolish in my opionion. You may be legall ...legally dead if something goes wrong. I'm sure the FBO decision was made in concert with the insurance companies and collective good decision makeing of their staff. Just my .03 cents worth.

Jim
 
Well- you're gonna get low IFR, you're gonna get ice in the winter around Chicago, and you're gonna get wind shear, and your gonna get (and so on and so) I'm of the school that you see it best with a competent instructor first, instead of by yourself or with your family at the end of a long first ride. I think it was Hank Aaron that said only two things about opportunities in life were important: being prepared for the opportunity, and having the guts to take a swing at it.
 
I did most of my instrument training in the Valley during the Tule Fog season this past winter. Almost half my time was spent in actual conditions, much of it almost to mins. It was GREAT experience and I think it made me a much more competent IFR pilot in short order. Granted, most of it was in a Seminole and the actual done in the Tomahawks was well above mins with ceilings at 1500 or so, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
 
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