Paul Folbrecht wrote:

I had always planned on getting my instrument rating- within the next
year, probably. But last weekend I had a chat with someone who really
got me thinking about it.

This guy is a friend of a friend and is a retired 20,000 hour ATP.
Retired in the 80s flying 707s and I forget what else. Instructed in
Cubs for years. (Guy has nine count 'em nine engine failures in Cubs!
Two inside 20 minutes once!)

So, this is what he told me: unless I'm going to be flying 3 times/week
at least, getting my instrument ticket is a waste and possibly dangerous
as well. He thinks I'll be more likely to end up dead with it than
without it. (Logic being, obviously, that the ticket will give me such
a sense of security that I won't be afraid of hard IMC even when I'm not
current enough to handle it.)

Thoughts on this??

In a sense your friend is right but a little over the top. Unfortunately
most people who get there IR for personal use only, never fly in clouds
and this is the reason why.

I try to make every cross country flight an instrument flight even in
clear VMC. I fly in actual IMC maybe 4 times a year and very rarely for
over 30 min. I do use a simulator Elite Pro Trainer and I fly the
approaches on the sim before doing them for real at an unknown airport.

John Roncallo