First post ever in this area of the board...

Hobobiker

Hobobiker

Line Up and Wait
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Hobo
Bought my own foggles and a Gleim Instrument test prep book. Passed my Private on 7/20 and took a "for fun" flight shortly afterwards. Guess it's time to dig into this Instrument stuff to see what it's all about.

I'll admit, I'm not as excited about my Instrument cert as I was in getting my Private. That said, I know it will make me a safer pilot...so here goes nothing...
 
We are in the same boat! Although I have got about 40 hours in since my PPL, which I actually recommend that you do before you jump completely into the IR training. The extra time will make you much more proficient in basic control of the airplane and radio operations, which you have to have as second nature if you want to learn anything from your instrument lessons. Also I believe you need 50 hours of cross country time as PIC, and while you will get some of that during your instrument cross-country flights, you still need to do more in order to reach the minimum. I have only taken a few instrument rides so far but they are really fun, the whole concept is so cool, and doing my first instrument approach and then taking off the foggles at the MDA and seeing the runway right infront of me was spectacular!
 
It's good to study and learn,but get some good long XCs in, the kind where you go through a couple of fuel stops in a day, before you start your training. It used to be a 125hr minimum before IR for a reason, I doubt that removing that has had any positive results, but then I don't think many people get an IR before then anyway.
 
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MarleyW said:
. Also I believe you need 50 hours of cross country time as PIC....
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That's true if you go part 61. If you go part 141 the x-country PIC requirements do not apply and the training hour mins drop from 40 to 35.
 
You can also do most of your XC time during your training, it actually works really well as it's how one really uses an IR.
 
Hobobiker said:
Bought my own foggles and a Gleim Instrument test prep book. Passed my Private on 7/20 and took a "for fun" flight shortly afterwards. Guess it's time to dig into this Instrument stuff to see what it's all about.

I'll admit, I'm not as excited about my Instrument cert as I was in getting my Private. That said, I know it will make me a safer pilot...so here goes nothing...
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Congratulations -- and congratulations. I applaud you getting your Private and for wanting to get going on the IR.

I greatly preferred my IR training over the PPL, Commercial, or CFI because I found the IR was the most practical and no-nonsense of any of them.

The IR may seem like an overwhelming amount of new material, but I found it easy once I related every rule back to "how will not following this rule get me killed?". In my case, at least, once viewed through that lens, the IR and seemingly hundreds of esoteric rules (on the whole) make perfect, practical sense.

As for the actual flying of the plane for the IR practical, just find a really good CFII. I was blessed to have a great friend and airline check-airman who practically re-did my IR AFTER I passed my check-ride. If it wasn't for him, I doubt I would have enjoyed the utility of the rating like I do. As is, low IMC is my absolute favorite type of flying. There's nothing like seeing that runway appear right in front of you out of nothing on a 200 OVC day. There's also nothing like being able to get A to B when one would be grounded otherwise (icing and a solid line of thunderstorms not withstanding).

My 2 cents: tip-toe in, don't be in a hurry, relate everything back to "how will violating this rule get me killed?", and find a quality CFII (that's not afraid to get you real IMC experience). Get the rating then keep training until you lower your personal minimums, increasing your experience, and gaining confidence to do it solo just like it was a CAVU day.

It's a ton of fun!
 
If you're anything like me, you're going to feel like you're drowning at first. There's a LOT of information to digest. Just know that it will all eventually make sense and it's all important. Before beginning IR training, I thought it was all about reading approach plates and executing them properly. While those are important (remember when I said it's all important?), they're relatively easy to pick up throughout training. For me it was weather theory, lost comms procedures and other planning stuff that caused the most trouble. But mostly because I thought I needed to know it all before I started the training.
Work with your CFII and commit to the training and you'll be instrument rated before you know it!
 
Martymccasland said:
My 2 cents: tip-toe in, don't be in a hurry, relate everything back to "how will violating this rule get me killed?", and find a quality CFII (that's not afraid to get you real IMC experience). Get the rating then keep training until you lower your personal minimums, increasing your experience, and gaining confidence to do it solo just like it was a CAVU day.
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Yep! To get started go to www.AvClicks.com and learn to IFR think for free. :wink2:

dtuuri
 
Like others have said, get some time under your belt and enjoy being a Private pilot for a bit before diving into the IR. There's a reason the FAA requires 50 XC PIC, so be sure to do the bulk of that on your own. Much of it can be combined with IR training (and most starving CFII's like myself won't argue with the XC time/$$), but the intent of the requirement is to get you out there making PIC decisions outside of the training environment. Also, make it a point to use VFR flight following on your time building XC's as it will help a great deal in building your confidence working win ATC, which is a huge part of flying in the IFR system.
 
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