"Michael" wrote:
The bottom line is painful, but true: Until I own a much more capable
aircraft than Atlas, an IFR ticket would be a nice ego booster, but not
much
use.

You know, lots of people are going to try to convince you that's not
true - only it is.

Aw, jeez; I was biting my keyboard but now you force me to post, Mike.

Jay does not need a more capable aircraft to make the i rating useful to
him, he just needs to change his flying needs.

By no means am I urging that he do this; he seems to have reached an
accomodation with his circumstances that works well for him.

But what if he opens another couple of inns 300 miles away in opposite
directions? In that case the airplane could become a useful business tool
and, IMO, the rating would make it a more reliable one. Would he need to
replace the -235 to make this so? I don't think so. There would always be
those days when he'd need to be at the other hotel but marginal conditions
would make a VFR flight highly inadvisable, yet such conditions are no sweat
for an IFR flight.

Yes, if he wants to fly over CBs or through ice he needs a lot more
airplane, but there's plenty of IMC and near-IMC flying to be done when
those things aren't factors. Oh, yeah, and there's the inescapable fact
that one gets better radar service when flying IFR, viz. Jay's recent
experience with Chicago Center.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM