I'm working towards my instrument rating now and finally got some real-world IFR experience! Up until this past weekend, all of my instrument time was simulated with foggles. My instructor was making a 500nm+ trip to Florida on Sunday afternoon and asked if I wanted to join, spend the night at his brother's place, then fly back Monday morning. Weather forecast was moderately low ceiling, 7kts winds, and scattered rain showers. He filed the IFR flight plan, then we prepped the plane and picked up clearance in between the raindrops. We took off in light showers, contacted ATC, and headed straight into the clouds (a first for me). Clouds topped out at 7,100' and we were climbing for 8,000'. We were in IMC for about 2 hours each way, and I just have to say... I absolutely loved flying IFR with 0 visibility! While foggles/hoods do a really decent job at simulating the visual aspect of IFR flying, it doesn't quite capture the feeling of flying through a dense cloud, or being able to see ahead but not up or down like when you're between cloud layers. Loved it and looking forward to doing it again!
With foggles I can cheat out the left lower peripheral vision and catch glimpses of ground out my window. There’s nothing like being in solid IMC. No way to tell which way is up. Weird feeling when they call traffic you’ll never see. Trusting your instruments and ATC with your life, literally.
I enjoy the low stuff. My ticket is 3 months old. I got two hours in some stratus layers last weekend and it was fun. First time with a passenger in that kind of goo. Still alive to talk about it.
