Is IFR right for you?

Tarheel Pilot

Tarheel Pilot

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Tarheel Pilot
How can you tell if it would really be in your best intrest to get your IFR rating? Here is my mission for my PPL as well as any aircraft I hope to own.

I plan on being a rec. pilot. I plan on flying my airplanes to local fly-in restaurants, to attend fly-ins around my area, go to the beach or mountain for a weekend getaway, and every Summer I may fly it up to Oshkosh for the annual AirVenture. I may also fly it down to the Caribbean maybe once or twice. Now I definitely want to have an IFR panel, with a Garmin GNS 430, with Nav/Com 2 and a Garmin Transponder. The max passenger will be around myself and one other passenger, maybe two. I will be an uncle soon so I plan on exposing my niece/nephew to this great world of aviation. So I basically need an aircraft that is easy and fun to fly (all four qualify for that), can carry camping equipment (minus the food which I will buy at my destination) and can basically fly me to vacation spots, fly-ins and to that $100 hamburger.
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I should mention I will be doing some mountain flying, so that may play a factor in me considering getting an IFR rating.
 
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you are going to need to make sure you can afford to keep proficient. It takes a lot more resources than staying proficient VFR. Having a job helps.
 
If you can afford to obtain the IFR rating in a reasonable time frame and then can be sure of staying PROFICIENT and current after actually getting the ticket, I see no reason NOT to do it. I flew around for 6 years post-PPL before finally completing my IR this past December. 80% of the time I was able to do XC's with no problem at all, but that 20% that I was stuck on the ground was MISERABLE!! 90% of the time that I was stuck on the ground, I wasn't waiting on thunderstorms, just a low, thin overcast layer preventing me from completing my trip VFR. Now with the IR, I simply file, pop through the top and put on my sunglasses. :D

If you have the $$$ to get the rating and then plan on being able to stay PROFICIENT as well as current afterwards, go for it! It definitely makes you a better pilot even when you're not on the instruments.

Just my .02.

-Chris
 
tonycondon said:
you are going to need to make sure you can afford to keep proficient. It takes a lot more resources than staying proficient VFR. Having a job helps.
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What are the cost to stay proficient with IR?
 
NCPilot said:
What are the cost to stay proficient with IR?
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I think that depends on the pilot. It all depends on how much 'natural' stick and rudder skills you have as well as how well you simply retain knowledge. I can tell you that the currency requirement of 6-in-6 does NOT keep you proficient. I had about a 1 month break in my IR training last fall, and I really had to concentrate when I finally got back into the air.
 
it actually is a good eye opener for a student working on IFR to take a long break in training. Shows em how fast they lose it, which is important to know before you get the rating. Everyone is different. Basically it will cost however much it takes for you to say "I will launch into the clouds today with my family aboard and not be concerned for their safety"
 
Even if you can't afford to stay proficient, the skills you will learn during training for the IR will stay with you and you will be a safer VFR pilot. You might not plan to stay proficient and file IFR routinely, but if you should happen to venture VFR into IMC you'll stand a much better chance of surviving the IMC encounter if you have put in the hours for the instrument rating. The average noninstrument rated pilot loses control in IMC after something like two minutes.
 
I think it's really a question of how much cross-country flying you're going to be doing. By cross-country, I don't mean airports 50nm apart, I mean flying from point A to point B and staying there. These are trips where you're trying to get something done, get there at a certain time, and get home by a certain time. Also, the longer distance you're trying to cover, the more likely you are to encounter bad weather.

If you're just going up for a fun flight and the weather is dodgy, you'll have no trouble scrubbing the flight. But if you're trying to get to back home for work on Monday you may very well wish you had some more options.

If it's something you're thinking about doing, you need to set some expectations. First of all, it's a lot of work to get. It will take the same level of effort to get your IR as it did your PPL. You need to make sure you have adequate time and funding to devote to it. Second, it's a lot of work to maintain. 6 months goes by pretty quickly. Getting six in six usually means two flights up with the safety pilot. However, none of us want to maintain only the minimum required approaches, so you'd better bank on doing more than that. Third, you will still face limitations. You won't be able to fly through a thunderstorm. You won't be able to fly into known icing conditions (unless you have a much fancier plane than I do). You won't be able to fly into extremely low ceilings. You'll also want to raise your minimums depending on your experience and recent proficiency.

But, it does have some great advantages. Probably the best reason is that it gives low time pilots lots of extra dual instruction when they need it the most (see Paul Craig's The Killing Zone for more on this). It's kinda fun the first time you see a runway appear from a windshild full of muck. You'll get an insurance discount and it's an absolute necessity for almost any type of professional flying. You'll get more cross-country utility out of your plane since you'll have lower weather limits. And, there's the whole "emergency" aspect of it as well.

There is one thing about your reasoning that doesn't quite click. If you were going to fly VFR, why would you blow money on the super IFR panel you describe? The setup you've described is quite expensive both to own and maintain. (An IFR GPS costs upwards of $300/year in database updates) IMHO, one of the advantages of staying VFR is that you can use cheaper and more capable handheld equipment. A Garmin 496 will do about 3 times as much stuff as a stock 430 at about 1/4 of the price.
 
Nav8tor said:
Even if you can't afford to stay proficient, the skills you will learn during training for the IR will stay with you and you will be a safer VFR pilot. You might not plan to stay proficient and file IFR routinely, but if you should happen to venture VFR into IMC you'll stand a much better chance of surviving the IMC encounter if you have put in the hours for the instrument rating. The average noninstrument rated pilot loses control in IMC after something like two minutes.
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True, but don't think that having an IFR ticket will keep you from running into trouble if you encounter clouds while VFR. According to the Nall report, a disturbing number of the unintentional VFR into IMC accidents involved instrument-rated pilots.
 
tonycondon said:
The only time I ever came close to VFR into IMC was after my IR.
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Probably because you were more willing to fly when the weather was less than ideal because you had confidence in your abilities becuause of your IR. If you had entered IMC that time what do you think would have been the likely outcome? I'm guessing you would have been able to maintain control of the airplane and safely return to VFR conditions.
 
Lee - I wouldve iced up and fallen out of the sky. I am not proud of the fact that I took that flight but I learned a lot.
 
Nav8tor said:
Even if you can't afford to stay proficient, the skills you will learn during training for the IR will stay with you and you will be a safer VFR pilot. You might not plan to stay proficient and file IFR routinely, but if you should happen to venture VFR into IMC you'll stand a much better chance of surviving the IMC encounter if you have put in the hours for the instrument rating. The average noninstrument rated pilot loses control in IMC after something like two minutes.
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Ding Ding Ding correct Answer!
 
gprellwitz said:
I tried finding the cite in the Nall report I was thinking of, but didn't see it, at least in the 2006 version. I did come acrosss the collowing interesting study, however: http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueSO02/Hangar91002.html (Does an IFR Rating Make You a Safer Pilot?: Causes of Fatal Accidents in Cessna 172/182 Aircraft).
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I think a lot of it depends on where you fly. An overwhelming majority of recent fatal accidents in my neck of the woods (NC) are being performed by instrument rated pilots on IFR flight plans due to either CFIT or in-flight breakups. There were several over the holidays. Clearly we have a problem with people maintaining proficiency.
 
As for my cross country, the farthest I think I'll really travel is either to Gaston, or Oshkosh. I may also travel to KGKT and KMPJ for camping. I may also fly to fly-ins that are on the Eastern part of this country. So, really I'll only be doing a 630nm or 579nm for once or twice a year.
 
JustinPinnix said:
I think a lot of it depends on where you fly. An overwhelming majority of recent fatal accidents in my neck of the woods (NC) are being performed by instrument rated pilots on IFR flight plans due to either CFIT or in-flight breakups. There were several over the holidays. Clearly we have a problem with people maintaining proficiency.
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Yea, those accidents happen in my neck of the woods too. (NC)
 
NCPilot said:
As for my cross country, the farthest I think I'll really travel is either to Gaston, or Oshkosh. I may also travel to KGKT and KMPJ for camping. I may also fly to fly-ins that are on the Eastern part of this country. So, really I'll only be doing a 630nm or 579nm for once or twice a year.
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Can you afford to chance getting stuck away from home for up to a week on a cross country trip? Before I was instrument rated that happened to me a few times. With an IR you can still get stuck but the chances are better and getting stuck for more than a day is very rare.
 
lancefisher said:
Can you afford to chance getting stuck away from home for up to a week on a cross country trip? Before I was instrument rated that happened to me a few times. With an IR you can still get stuck but the chances are better and getting stuck for more than a day is very rare.
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That is true, something I need to consider.
 
Ask Nick and Jesse if you want to know more.
 
Tarheel Pilot said:
How can you tell if it would really be in your best intrest to get your IFR rating? Here is my mission for my PPL as well as any aircraft I hope to own.



I should mention I will be doing some mountain flying, so that may play a factor in me considering getting an IFR rating.
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Go for the IR. You'll be ever so glad you did for reasons already mentioned and others too numerous to count.
If you are going to do any mtn. flying in NC, let me know if I can help you with that. ;) Bill,CFII
 
lancefisher said:
Can you afford to chance getting stuck away from home for up to a week on a cross country trip? Before I was instrument rated that happened to me a few times. With an IR you can still get stuck but the chances are better and getting stuck for more than a day is very rare.
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I think Lance nails it, from my perspective anyway. If you are just going to fly locally, and maybe go to a breakfast or $100 hamburger on a nice day, IR is money and time that may not be well spent. Adam Z is absolutely right too that your abilities and skill level increases with the IR. And that is a point of consideration as well.

But, if you are going to use the plane for much of any travel on the east coast, you'll need that IR, or you'll want to plan on getting stuck sometimes. This can be a real hassle, particularly if you are renting a plane and it is due back. Also if you work for a living;)

Jim G
 
"...go to the beach or mountain for a weekend getaway, and every Summer I may fly it up to Oshkosh for the annual AirVenture. I may also fly it down to the Caribbean maybe once or twice."
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I think that part of the mission statement seals the need for an IR, unless your life is such that you can wait for good VFR conditions both going and coming on those trips, and you always fly so that you have a good VFR "out" at all times. My experience is that you can't do trips like this routinely with any chronoreliability without an IR. If you really don't care how long it takes to get there, or when you get home, VFR-only will work, but not otherwise. Sure, there will be times that even an IR won't get you there or home on time in a light single, and you still must have contingency plans, but the IR will do that a whole lot better than VFR-only flying.
 
Ron Levy said:
Sure, there will be times that even an IR won't get you there or home on time in a light single, and you still must have contingency plans, but the IR will do that a whole lot better than VFR-only flying.
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Very true. When I flew my Pitts to Gaston's last year and had to leave early, it was actually a blessing in disguise. If I would have come home when I'd intended, I would have gotten to about Tallahassee and had to land. An instrument-equipped airplane would not have helped. A tropical storm/weak hurricane had formed offshore and polluted Jacksonville's weather. In an instrument-equipped airplane, the delay would have been a day. For the Pitts it would have been almost a week.
 
Well I know that after I get my plane I plan on spending about a year or so getting familiar with it, doing VFR XC's, etc. Then it is off to get the IFR, period.

The good part is the wife is ALL for me getting my IFR ticket AND keeping not only current, but proficient.
 
An Instrument rating will make you a much better pilot. It does take effort to stay current, but it's worth it. Heck, you have to work at staying current VFR, too.

Ron is dead on, when you start taking long trips that keep you out for more than one day, sooner or later you will get stuck if you aren't IFR.

Jay
 
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