I flew VFR into IFR 2SM, OVC1500

U

Unregistered

Guest
I got a call late in the afternoon from one of my pilot buddies asking where the heck I was. He knew I was out flying that day. I told him where I was and he said I better get home soon, a fast moving front is coming in and all the fields behind the front were going IFR. I check the weather--still 7SM and 3000 broken at the home drome. I take off. There is about a 30kt. headwind and low level turbulence. I choose 2300ft as my cruising altitude as that is about as low as I can go while staying above any towers enroute and keeping out of the headwind as much as possible. Pitot heat on.

About 50 miles out, I run into the wall of clouds. The sun is low on the horizon and the VFR portable GPS is predicting my ETE will be about 10 minutes after sunset. I press on. The visual horizon is basically gone but I can still see the ground below me for a few miles in every direction but even that visibility is steadily receding. I split my time between my instruments and looking down on the ground below. I'm rock solid at 2300ft. and keeping the sunny side of the airplane up and cussing about the lack of visibility, headwind, and the choppy air. 2300ft. also happens to be the MDA for the instrument approach at my home field.

Getting close now, GPS shows 10 miles out. Don't see my town, definitely don't see the airport. 5 miles out. Still can't see the airport. It's getting very dark out. I click on all the lights with the radio. 3 miles, I see nothing. I slow the plane down and get it ready to land. Finally I see the airport below me and the GPS agrees. I circle with the airport in sight, descend, fly a short approach, and land. It's the most relieved I have been to be on the ground in my entire private pilot "career".

I checked the weather on AWOS while taxiing back to my hangar. 2SM, OVC 1500. I was damn lucky there was no ice, no instrument failure, and the clouds weren't any lower. Field elevation is about 900ft.

I know basic VFR minimums are 1 mile, clear of clouds. I was not clear of clouds, rather skimming along in the bottom layer. Horizontal visibility was nil/minimal but I could still see the ground if I looked straight down. I'm not instrument rated but I'm doing the training and I have shot about a dozen approaches in this month, some in actual, all with a CFII onboard (obviously). I know I have to get my IR ticket if I'm going to use my plane as a serious traveling machine like I want it to be.
 
Hope you've learned your lesson, and will choose to park it and stay in a motel next time this happens, at least until you get your IR.
 
Ask yourself the following questions:

Why did I take off in the first place when I knew I was flying into bad weather?
Why did I continue to fly into bad weather? Could I have turned around and landed somewhere with better weather?

I'm glad you made it, and I hope you take the right lesson from this experience.
 
I know basic VFR minimums are 1 mile, clear of clouds.

In class G airspace during the day. At night, you're still at 3 SM and the standard 500/1000/2000.

I know I have to get my IR ticket if I'm going to use my plane as a serious traveling machine like I want it to be.

Just a word of warning - I have no idea what you're flying, but I'm guessing that if you're still working on your IR it's something in the typical trainer realm (that would include a Cirrus). In either case, you're not looking at what constitutes a "serious traveling machine." Reasonable at best. The instrument rating will not allow you to make any trip that you otherwise would be grounded for. In fact, it will make your go/no-go decision harder.

Good luck...
 
Halfway through an instrument rating seems to be a dangerous spot in december.
Glad you could post about this.
 
My palms are sweating just reading this.
 
Last edited:
First glad you are OK

Second IR!

Third Thank you for sharing, hopefuly it will allow others to learn from your mistake.
 
Don't try to outrun a cold front, especially when flying towards it. Inclement weather can form right in front of your eyes and may be well before the front.
 
I tried to outrun a cold front once. Ended up Landing 70 miles from home at a little airport and having my 7 months pregnant wife come pick me up. You can imagine the car ride home.
 
I tried to outrun a cold front once. Ended up Landing 70 miles from home at a little airport and having my 7 months pregnant wife come pick me up. You can imagine the car ride home.

Better than the funeral.
 
Heck you can teach people not to do that untill you are blue in the face. They are still gonna push the envelope. You made it...and im positve that many more on this forum have stories just like yours..RIGHT! Except me:wink2:
 
The instrument rating will not allow you to make any trip that you otherwise would be grounded for. In fact, it will make your go/no-go decision harder.

???

I think that depends alot on where and what time of year you are flying, or did I misunderstand your comment?

That is certainly true for the East Coast and other parts of the country in the wintertime, but in the summertime or out west (California particularly) an Instrument Rating can most definitely mean the difference between safely and legally making a trip vs being stuck on the ground.
 
In light aircraft, with or without an instrument rating or ATP, my rule is "don't fly the day of the front."
 
"Don't try to outrun a cold front, especially when flying towards it."

I'm gonna set that one right next to:

"Better to be on the ground, wishing you were flying, than to be flying, wishing you were on the ground"
 
Why the hell did you need to get home so bad? You're going to kill yourself.

I am just blown away by your post and your attitide in the cockpit.

The instrument rating is just going to make it easier for you to kill yourself and that is exactly what you're going to do if you don't develop some judgement.
 
Why the hell did you need to get home so bad? You're going to kill yourself.

I am just blown away by your post and your attitide in the cockpit.

The instrument rating is just going to make it easier for you to kill yourself and that is exactly what you're going to do if you don't develop some judgement.

Hmm. That's what I THOUGHT, but tried to be more diplomatic as I said it, given the response I got when chastising another pilot for flying his family into SVFR.
 
I know basic VFR minimums are 1 mile, clear of clouds. I was not clear of clouds, rather skimming along in the bottom layer. Horizontal visibility was nil/minimal but I could still see the ground if I looked straight down. I'm not instrument rated but I'm doing the training and I have shot about a dozen approaches in this month, some in actual, all with a CFII onboard (obviously). I know I have to get my IR ticket if I'm going to use my plane as a serious traveling machine like I want it to be.


This summary statement seems to imply "I'm just about an instrument pilot, so...."

Here's a clue: when you finally earn the IR (after passing the written and the practical) you'll still be a ****-poor IR pilot.

You'll need to build time and experience in the weather and ATC systems and make some more mistakes and learn to be a bit more humble.

So knock the chip of your shoulder and realize that "halfway to the IR" is only halfway to the starting line.
 
*If* you had "half" your IR training finished, it *might* have been safer to get a clearance and be IFR into IMC but not rated, rather than VFR into IMC at night. Regardless, it would have been far safer to land elsewhere and drive or get a motel.
 
Glad you are alive. AND SHAME ON YOU FOR CONTINUING INTO IMC as a VFR pilot ! That's both incredibly naive, stupid, indicative of a hazardous attitude that will kill you and your passengers one day and illegal.

Incredible, really.

If I had been your CFI and found about that kind of behavior I would try very hard to get my name out of your logbook and if I were your current CFII I would drop you as a student like a hot rock
 
Last edited:
I think that depends alot on where and what time of year you are flying, or did I misunderstand your comment?

You may have misunderstood.

That is certainly true for the East Coast and other parts of the country in the wintertime, but in the summertime or out west (California particularly) an Instrument Rating can most definitely mean the difference between safely and legally making a trip vs being stuck on the ground.

I think you're misunderstanding. VFR, decisions should be simpler. Can you get there without getting in a cloud? Yes? Good. Is there a cloud up ahead that you can't get around? No? Find another airport and land. Pretty straightforward.

Now add the instrument rating in. Now I can go into clouds. Are there embedded thunderstorms? Is there icing? Is there some kind of widespread limited IFR that now provides greater fuel concerns? Alternates? What about when you get an unexpected re-route (which you should plan for the potential of)? Is there low IFR over your route of flight that you should consider in event of an unexpected diversion? How will the clouds you're in impact you in the event of an engine failure?

Sure, some days, the instrument rating does turn what would be a difficult VFR trip into an easy IFR trip. Other days, I've made a trip VFR because to make it IFR would've been more hazardous.
 
Heck you can teach people not to do that untill you are blue in the face. They are still gonna push the envelope. You made it...and im positve that many more on this forum have stories just like yours..RIGHT! Except me:wink2:

We've all done stupid things. And the smart ones among us got on the ground and said "That was a ****ing retarded thing for me to have done,." I'm lucky to be alive

The less smart ones got smacked upside the head by someone who explained to us how ****ing retarded we were being.
 
I'm in about the same position as you.. still got some hours to knock out the IR but almost there at this point.

I can definitely understand the urge to go anyway. When you've been blasting around for awhile, filing and shooting approaches with your instructor, it sucks when a day comes around, you want to go flying and the weather is just fine for flying IFR but its a no-go VFR.

But have some respect for the system. And it sounds like what you did was very dangerous. True, the magic stamp of approval the FAA will give you (inst. rating) really makes no difference in your safety, it just makes it legal. But IFR flying is much more than just flying in the clouds and shooting approaches. You must plan ahead, check the weather thoroughly, watch for ice, stay in contact with ATC (dont hit other planes). It sounds like you did not do any of those things.

I'm concerned you didn't file. If I found myself in the same position (I won't), i'd either air-file an IFR plan and pretend to know what I was doing, or fess up. Either way i'd let ATC know I was going to be in the clouds. No sense putting others at risk.

Hopefully this is a moot discussion because you learned your lesson and won't be doing this again :)
 
Last edited:
???

I think that depends alot on where and what time of year you are flying, or did I misunderstand your comment?

That is certainly true for the East Coast and other parts of the country in the wintertime, but in the summertime or out west (California particularly) an Instrument Rating can most definitely mean the difference between safely and legally making a trip vs being stuck on the ground.

And it depends on where you are, but here in NC the instrument rating does open up a ton of flying days. The MEA's are low and winter is pretty mild
 
Glad you are alive. AND SHAME ON YOU FOR CONTINUING INTO IMC as a VFR pilot ! That's both incredibly naive, stupid, indicative of a hazardous attitude that will kill you and your passengers one day and illegal.

Incredible, really.

If I had been your CFI and found about that kind of behavior I would try very hard to get my name out of your logbook and if I were your current CFII I would drop you as a student like a hot rock

This!
 
Heck you can teach people not to do that untill you are blue in the face. They are still gonna push the envelope. You made it...and im positve that many more on this forum have stories just like yours..RIGHT! Except me:wink2:

There are two kinds of pilots, those who have and those who say they never will.
 
*If* you had "half" your IR training finished, it *might* have been safer to get a clearance and be IFR into IMC but not rated, rather than VFR into IMC at night.
Then the question becomes, Which is better, outright breaking the rules or merely bending the rules? How far can the rule be bent before it's broken? That is the question of the inexperienced pilot caught in unfamiliar territory. In someways, a too great importance in adherence to the rules can become a liability. The Cory Lidle accident as example.

Regardless, it would have been far safer to land elsewhere and drive or get a motel.
Of course that is the best decision. The thing is, our judgement is often enough not like a simple flow chart...."If this/than that."

Our judgement may be more like a cloud...all these bits of infromation swirling around, some of more importance, some of less importance. But it gets whack when those of less importance grow to become greater. Getting home became a greater importance than being safe. Remaining legal seemed likely until it wasn't. That's called 'outside of the envelope' since he pushed himself right into the small dark corner.
 
Then the question becomes, Which is better, outright breaking the rules or merely bending the rules? How far can the rule be bent before it's broken? That is the question of the inexperienced pilot caught in unfamiliar territory. In someways, a too great importance in adherence to the rules can become a liability. The Cory Lidle accident as example.

Of course that is the best decision. The thing is, our judgement is often enough not like a simple flow chart...."If this/than that."

Our judgement may be more like a cloud...all these bits of infromation swirling around, some of more importance, some of less importance. But it gets whack when those of less importance grow to become greater. Getting home became a greater importance than being safe. Remaining legal seemed likely until it wasn't. That's called 'outside of the envelope' since he pushed himself right into the small dark corner.


Lots of rationalization, no point.

Try again.
 
Lots of rationalization, no point.

Try again.
The post you responded to was written by me. I was too lazy to log in.

My point wasn't to rationalize a poor decision. I am always supremely curious of the thought process that leads to error. Only the suicidal intentionally make life threatening decisions. Yet many otherwise good pilots continue to end up at that end of the box. I was simply thinking outloud.,
 
Then the question becomes, Which is better, outright breaking the rules or merely bending the rules? How far can the rule be bent before it's broken? That is the question of the inexperienced pilot caught in unfamiliar territory. In someways, a too great importance in adherence to the rules can become a liability. The Cory Lidle accident as example.
Are you saying that the Lidle accident was due to adhering to the rules? On the contrary, it was in direct opposition to the rules - he/CFI did NOT know the turning radius of the Cirrus at that speed, the CFI was NOT that familiar with the Cirrus, shall we continue?
Of course that is the best decision. The thing is, our judgement is often enough not like a simple flow chart...."If this/than that."
But in this case, it is a simple flow chart - ran into bad weather and did nothing to mitigate the situation. 1. continued even tho the weather was beyond the comfort level, 2. did not seek the assistance of ATC.
Our judgement may be more like a cloud...all these bits of infromation swirling around, some of more importance, some of less importance. But it gets whack when those of less importance grow to become greater. Getting home became a greater importance than being safe. Remaining legal seemed likely until it wasn't. That's called 'outside of the envelope' since he pushed himself right into the small dark corner.
 
You're lucky you didn't die. Dont try rationalizing it, it was illegal, stupid, and dangerous.
I think the OP got the point, no need to kick him when he's down.

Saying he was lucky he didn't die serves to conjure a scenario in which there are only two choices; to live or to die. Of course we are going to choose to live.

That form of scenario acts to short circuit the learning process. That scenario does not allow for the shaded area between life and death. It is better to discuss how the chain occured and why it was allowed to continue. The why is the lesson. Having learned that, we can at once expand our envelope and still be safe.
 
Lidle and Stanger did not exercise their "third option" (NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker) of climbing due to their desire to avoid the overlying Class B airspace. My point was the lesser important became greater in importance therefore impeded judgement.

Not knowing the turn radius at that speed was a factor. Making that turn to the downwind was a major factor.
 
Last edited:
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top