IFR Training - no motivation.....

The IR will still not enable you to fly a light single in thunderstorms or ice. On the other hand, when it's 2000 BKN/OVC with haze, tops at 7000, you can do the miserable and/or dangerous scud run thing VFR, or you can climb through the clag and cruise on top in the sunshine in smooth air IFR. Even if you are in the clouds from start to finish it's better than the scud run thing. We get lots of weather conditions like this in the northeast in spring to fall. Unfortunately, in winter it is often major league ice season downwind of the Great Lakes, and an instrument rating doesn't help much with that in a non-FIKI airplane.

I've always thought of the IR in a light single as a way to eliminate much of the uncertainty, stress, and danger of flying in MVFR conditions, or navigating IFR conditions at the departure or destination.
 
Getting excited to earn the Instrument Rating by reading about it is about as exciting as shopping for car insurance by reading the legal notes of the policy. Once you hop back into the plane and watch all the pieces come together, it's pretty exciting and will definitely boost your motivation. Once you finish your checkride, you'll either enjoy it or not, but at least you have the skills if you need it someday. Best of luck with it!
 
Why do you need that skill? Would it have made a difference on any flights that you canceled or didn’t complete as planned? Do you see it being reasonably likely to be used on future flights? If you get the rating, will you use it often enough to stay proficient and constantly improve your skills? What’s actually in it for you?

Not trying to discourage you, but giving you things to think about. Many, many pilots are doing all of the flying they ever wanted to do and living their dreams VFR all the way.

If IFR is good for you, block out time in your schedule for training at least twice a week, preferably three to four flights, plus uninterruptible study time, and go at it whole hog. Get the rating, then fly IFR at least every 10 days and put it to work for you.
 
I've had my PPL for over 15 years. I just recently passed the IFR written and am working on hood time and skills. I've flown many long cross country trips during that 15 years and I can count on one hand the times that I was unable to fly somewhere due to weather that I would have been good to go with an instrument rating. Most times, in IMC, the question is really if you even want to fly at all. In training right now, I am definitely seeing the advantages of having the IFR skills and if I would have been more motivated, I think there would have been a small benefit in going right from PPL to Instrument, but not enough to make me regret anything. I finally decided that i wanted to get the rating and have a genuine desire to get it done. Without that desire, it would be difficult to maintain any sort of focus and would probably quit.
 
all important comments.
For someone who had his CFI/CFII at 320 hrs (and never used it to make a career in aviation), I will say this:
Enjoy flying. Learn when you're ready. Focus on acquiring knowledge when you're ready and then enjoy flying when you need just that.
Now (at 1400 hrs and proud aircraft owner), I am going back to basics and looking to perfect private and commercial maneuvers again. Not much XC or IFR flying for me while the country is still partially shut down and there are no business trips to make an excuse for flying :)
 
LOL, got ya beat, been procrastinating for 27 years. Started self study twice, but every time I get around taildraggers and acro birds and get sidetracked. It's happening again as I speak.
 
Ed Haywood said:
LOL, got ya beat, been procrastinating for 27 years. Started self study twice, but every time I get around taildraggers and acro birds and get sidetracked. It's happening again as I speak.
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That is the biggest problem with taking a break... It may never happen.
 
It has to be about your mindset. If you aren't motivated, you will fail. Many people who are motivated sometimes fail. When I got my PPL, I said that I absolutely was not interested in getting my IFR ticket. I told people that I just wasn't going to fly in that kind of weather. I just had no motivation. I only wanted to be a safe pilot, especially since my flying most often involved transporting my family. After flying for more than a year, I began to see how an IFR rating would make me a much safer pilot. Since safety was always a big concern of mine, I suddenly became motivated. You may come to that conclusion too, or you may not. My advice to you at this time is don't waste your time and money if you aren't motivated.
 
Getting my instrument rating made me so much better at the actual flying of the airplane. Taking away the crutch of looking out the window makes you so much more focused on the nuance of flying skill. My landings got better thanks to all those missed approaches, simply because I got so much better at focusing on flying the airplane.
 
I feel like there are two types of pilots -- stick and rudder pilots and numbers pilots. I'm a numbers pilot -- my Private and Commercial checkrides were hell, and I was constantly admonished for "eyes inside". My IFR training was a delight to me, finally no trying to figure out what the hell a "horizon" was when you're surrounded by mountains. :D

Maybe you're like my stick and rudder pilot buddies, and derive more enjoyment out of those things I hate -- aerobatics, "seat of the pants" flying, or just be-bopping along ala pilotage or landmarks.

Would a tailwheel or aerobatic lesson be more interesting? Or glider? Those are things I've said I "should do" but have not yet done (at 2300 hours), because frankly they intimidate me -- I don't "think that way" so I'm not motivated to do them, and they'd be a chore. And they remain un-done. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually, but I don't wanna.

There's nothing written that says you must do IFR after Private, or, ever. Hell, get VFR Multi-engine even though it's "wrong" without the approach endorsement, it's your ticket to use as you wish. :D

$0.02
 
Ed Haywood said:
LOL, got ya beat, been procrastinating for 27 years. Started self study twice, but every time I get around taildraggers and acro birds and get sidetracked. It's happening again as I speak.
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If it helps, I put it off barely that long... then years ago I ran into a friend and CFII who said “get your butt to my town around Christmas break and let’s knock it out”. And it worked out wonderfully. Really enjoy everywhere else it eventually led for me.

Don’t know if that helps motivate, but taking some time off to fully immerse and hammer on it was one of the absolute no regrets things I have ever done.

We did most of it at night in sub-zero temps too. LOL. That part was kinda stupid.
 
Got my private in August. Flew several XCs and loved it. Started reading /studying on instrument flying in November. Started flying with a CFII in January. Got pretty far. Then The Virus hit. So I went back to just studying and flying approaches in my home sim. Passed the written a couple of months ago with a perfect score. Started flying again with a safety pilot (who is also my airplane partner and at the time was getting his CFII) to get hood time and such. Then we bought a plane. So now I'm learning the new plane first, then will go back to finish up with my partner/ and now CFII once comfortable with the new-to-us plane. I need about ten more hours dual until IR checkride. Oh, and still studying for the oral portion of the checkride while on breaks working from home.
 
N1120A said:
Getting my instrument rating made me so much better at the actual flying of the airplane. Taking away the crutch of looking out the window makes you so much more focused on the nuance of flying skill. My landings got better thanks to all those missed approaches, simply because I got so much better at focusing on flying the airplane.
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Ha, when I was actively training for IR, my landings went to hell because of all those missed approaches . They are still horrible, but not horrendous
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
What is the "kill-and-drill" approach? Cramming in a weekend course and then spitting it out on a test at the end of the weekend?
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I mistyped...it's "drill and kill." Basically, I was referring to the practice of wrote memorization of flash cards and taking a bajillion practice tests until the questions are more familiar than the real content and concepts behind them.
 
WannFly said:
Ha, when I was actively training for IR, my landings went to hell because of all those missed approaches . They are still horrible, but not horrendous
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funny story about this. When I was doing my instrument training, my landings really went to hell. Again, because of all the missed approaches that we do. So along comes the check ride, and I have to completely change my whole thinking, and quickly. I have to actually get ATIS, actually set up for landing, is if I mean it.

during my check ride, I nearly blew it on the first approach, because he asked me to land. WTF? I floated almost halfway down the runway, before I actually set the mighty 172 on pavement.

the DPE told me he nearly flunked me due to that. He also said I would not have been the first.
 
Rgbeard said:
I floated almost halfway down the runway, before I actually set the mighty 172 on pavement.

the DPE told me he nearly flunked me due to that. He also said I would not have been the first.
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How much runway did you have left when you finally turned off?
 
I'm currently in the same boat with my next cert. Been meaning to do it for the past 6 years. Just not motivated.
 
Rgbeard said:
Enough, I guess. Don't really remember that detail. :)
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I'm just wondering why he threatened to ding you if you landed safely, didn't have to jump on the brakes, and turned off a little farther down the runway than he might have preferred.
 
MuseChaser said:
I mistyped...it's "drill and kill."
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I prefer "dill and krill", which is a lovely salad type of thing with dill yogurt and tiny shrimp... flavorful and high-protein! Whales love it. :)
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
I'm just wondering why he threatened to ding you if you landed safely, didn't have to jump on the brakes, and turned off a little farther down the runway than he might have preferred.
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IR.VI.E.S1 Transition at the DA/DH, MDA, or visual descent point to a visual flight condition, allowing for safe visual maneuvering and a normal landing.
 
smv said:
IR.VI.E.S1 Transition at the DA/DH, MDA, or visual descent point to a visual flight condition, allowing for safe visual maneuvering and a normal landing.
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Do they define "normal?"
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
Do they define "normal?"
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A "normal landing" is quite well defined in several areas throughout FAA literature. None of them include floating "almost halfway down the runway".
 
EdFred said:
That's normal for me when the FBO is at the far end!
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Hahaha.... "Landing long approved" notwithstanding, the DPE is going to want to see you land within a reasonable distance from the approach end of the runway following an instrument approach. Not being able to do that implies poor prior planning and being 'behind' the aircraft.
 
WannFly said:
Ha, when I was actively training for IR, my landings went to hell because of all those missed approaches . They are still horrible, but not horrendous
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I can relate. After finishing PPL in a 172, i immediately started IR in Sundowners. Flew them well in the air, but my landings JUST started clicking at the tail end of the approaches stage. Took a long time to get accustomed to being slow and feeling like the plane was gonna drop out from under me at the roundout. Whereas the 172 would always mush all the way down to 40kts for a buttery touchdown.
 
I started my instrument work about 15 years after getting my private license. There were several starts and stops and finally after 10 years, I finished my Instrument Rating. Too often, I had to cancel or delay trips because of MVFR or instrument conditions. Also, I finally decided that I wanted to use my license more. Stick with it. Enjoy the flying and you'll know when you'll want to get your Instrument Rating.
 
If your heart isn’t in it, thenjust fly VFR. Just remember that an IFR rating doesn’t mean every flight is through massive lines of thunderstorms carrying an inch of ice. In fact, that shouldn’t be any scenario you expect. But the IR does let you fly on marginal days when blue skies are just a few thousand feet away. It’s not as hard as you might think. The FAA does its level best to make instrument flying seem like a herculean feat. They do the same with grass strip landings. To read FAA advice you would think you’d need to update and double your life insurance if you plan to land on grass.
 
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