drgwentzel
Pre-takeoff checklist
Flyers,
I remember the day I passed my IFR checkride; I was walking out to my car and boosted to one of the CFI’s of my accomplishment. He congratulated me and immediately purported, “…now you’re 3 times safer!”
Hmmm, I had never heard that before. I wondered if that was true, and still do. The question is difficult to answer because you’d be comparing apples-to-oranges, but let’s talk about it.
First, it’s easy to conceive that more training of any kind adds to your experience and flying skills. Second, the IFR rating imparts enhanced abilities to control and navigate an aircraft solely by reference to the instruments. You learn to fly with extreme discipline and precision, and being 10 degrees off your heading or 100’ off your altitude is simply unacceptable. Third, you are more aware of the weather because you experience what it’s really like to be in clouds, and not simply flying under the hood with all your cheating and subliminal side references. It’s different folks! Next, you’re prepared to obtain a “pop-up” IFR clearance if you find yourself inadvertently blundering into IMC and you’ll have the skills and tools to safely fly an approach and land at an airport with low ceilings and restricted visibility. But does all of that really translate into you being a safer pilot? I will only offer anecdotal evidence for the purpose of this post. I reviewed some NTSB reports and did some googling and found the results mixed and equivocal.
I will assert that if all other variables are equal, an IFR pilot is a safer aviator than his VFR brethren as it relates to VFR flying. This is because he or she will have more options if things turn bad with respect to the weather. Remember, VFR flying into IMC is one of the deadliest types of accidents there is. It usually concludes in an unusual attitude, loss of control and a stall-spin crash.
Now, some things need to be stated. An IFR pilot can be more dangerous to themselves and their passengers simply because they CAN fly into IMC. IFR skills are wonderful and can get you out of weather conditions that could kill a VFR pilot, but it can also lure the unsuspecting IR flier into the teeth of Mother Nature when she’s having a bad hair day with no brush in hand. The system also has a much higher workload, demands proficient multitasking, and it will allow you to penetrate into conditions that has no open-mindedness to subtle mistakes.
Proficiency and currency are critical to IFR safety. Rusty IFR pilots who blunder into low IMC, unaware of such obvious oxidation, are the most dangerous pilots around! The rating requires regular use, training and re-currency to be safe. Some IFR pilots learn the hard way that the rating alone does not immune them from spatial disorientation. This is an insidious enemy which assaults you only when you are thoroughly unware of its company...and it's unimportant how I know this. My next point is that IFR pilots find themselves in some pretty crappy weather, and let’s face it, that’s whole the reason we obtained the ticket! But this weather can veil two very ominous cohorts. One of which I already met, and the other I haven’t had the pleasure, but have no inclination or desire to rub elbows with.
In the wintertime, clouds and cold precipitation conceals moisture that can turn your ride into a winged ice cube and then ultimately into a lawn dart if nothing is done to exit the conditions. In the summertime, IMC is very adept at disguising embedded thunderstorms to resemble a simple dark cloud. These ogres are very real threats that will totally ruin your perfectly good time on an otherwise innocent, merrymaking flight.
So, in conclusion, it is my opinion within a reasonable degree of aviation certainty, that you should have as many arrows in your quiver that will possibly fit, but if you want to know who is a safer pilot, whether IFR or VFR, I purport that it is the one who has learned that discretion is the better part of valor; it is the one who possesses a proper and respectful attitude toward the weather, the airplane, and their true piloting skills. Lastly, the safer pilot is the one who holds an unpretentious decision making process as the best instrument in their panel.
Gene Wentzel, CFI, CFII
I remember the day I passed my IFR checkride; I was walking out to my car and boosted to one of the CFI’s of my accomplishment. He congratulated me and immediately purported, “…now you’re 3 times safer!”
Hmmm, I had never heard that before. I wondered if that was true, and still do. The question is difficult to answer because you’d be comparing apples-to-oranges, but let’s talk about it.
First, it’s easy to conceive that more training of any kind adds to your experience and flying skills. Second, the IFR rating imparts enhanced abilities to control and navigate an aircraft solely by reference to the instruments. You learn to fly with extreme discipline and precision, and being 10 degrees off your heading or 100’ off your altitude is simply unacceptable. Third, you are more aware of the weather because you experience what it’s really like to be in clouds, and not simply flying under the hood with all your cheating and subliminal side references. It’s different folks! Next, you’re prepared to obtain a “pop-up” IFR clearance if you find yourself inadvertently blundering into IMC and you’ll have the skills and tools to safely fly an approach and land at an airport with low ceilings and restricted visibility. But does all of that really translate into you being a safer pilot? I will only offer anecdotal evidence for the purpose of this post. I reviewed some NTSB reports and did some googling and found the results mixed and equivocal.
I will assert that if all other variables are equal, an IFR pilot is a safer aviator than his VFR brethren as it relates to VFR flying. This is because he or she will have more options if things turn bad with respect to the weather. Remember, VFR flying into IMC is one of the deadliest types of accidents there is. It usually concludes in an unusual attitude, loss of control and a stall-spin crash.
Now, some things need to be stated. An IFR pilot can be more dangerous to themselves and their passengers simply because they CAN fly into IMC. IFR skills are wonderful and can get you out of weather conditions that could kill a VFR pilot, but it can also lure the unsuspecting IR flier into the teeth of Mother Nature when she’s having a bad hair day with no brush in hand. The system also has a much higher workload, demands proficient multitasking, and it will allow you to penetrate into conditions that has no open-mindedness to subtle mistakes.
Proficiency and currency are critical to IFR safety. Rusty IFR pilots who blunder into low IMC, unaware of such obvious oxidation, are the most dangerous pilots around! The rating requires regular use, training and re-currency to be safe. Some IFR pilots learn the hard way that the rating alone does not immune them from spatial disorientation. This is an insidious enemy which assaults you only when you are thoroughly unware of its company...and it's unimportant how I know this. My next point is that IFR pilots find themselves in some pretty crappy weather, and let’s face it, that’s whole the reason we obtained the ticket! But this weather can veil two very ominous cohorts. One of which I already met, and the other I haven’t had the pleasure, but have no inclination or desire to rub elbows with.
In the wintertime, clouds and cold precipitation conceals moisture that can turn your ride into a winged ice cube and then ultimately into a lawn dart if nothing is done to exit the conditions. In the summertime, IMC is very adept at disguising embedded thunderstorms to resemble a simple dark cloud. These ogres are very real threats that will totally ruin your perfectly good time on an otherwise innocent, merrymaking flight.
So, in conclusion, it is my opinion within a reasonable degree of aviation certainty, that you should have as many arrows in your quiver that will possibly fit, but if you want to know who is a safer pilot, whether IFR or VFR, I purport that it is the one who has learned that discretion is the better part of valor; it is the one who possesses a proper and respectful attitude toward the weather, the airplane, and their true piloting skills. Lastly, the safer pilot is the one who holds an unpretentious decision making process as the best instrument in their panel.
Gene Wentzel, CFI, CFII
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