Joe,

I suspect the two Stoneciphers are not the same person, but they might
be related.

I have worked with several people that went thru PIC, and I was not
displeased with the results. You must be aware, however, that any 7-14
day instrument rating will have limitations. By that I mean that after
you get home, you should consider yourself an instrument-rated novice.
This is not a bad thing, I just think you want to build your experience
and confidence gradually after getting the rating.

There is another short course I can recommend, and that is Maury's West
Coast Adventures. A couple of clients of mine have gone through the
program, and they were very happy. This program takes a group of three
students in a T182RG on a cross-country IFR adventure that is kind of a
tour of the western US. In the process you get a lot of experience in
a variety of weather, terrain and ATC environments.

Maury's course requires that you have your attitude instrument flight
skills and your written test report before you report for the course.
I believe the PIC course requires only the written test done prior.

Those are the only two short courses I can recommend. There are a lot
of others, but I have not seen another that I had any confidence in.

I have done a fair amount of business taking some of the people that
come out of some of the other short courses and bringing their
(deficient) skills up to the point that they could actually use their
rating without scaring themselves to death...

In all cases, I find the weakest area in most instrument courses, and
the short ones in particular, is the basic attitude instrument flying
skills. They act like the foundation of a great pyramid; use weak
stones in the foundation and as you add weight onto the upper courses,
the foundation crumbles and it all falls down.

Regards,

Gene