In rec.aviation.ifr Richard Hertz no one@no one.com wrote:
: So you are saying that you can teach:

: procedures, holds, approaches, procedures, performance instruments, control
: instruments, timing, procedures, VOR tracking and interception, procedures,
: unusual attitudes, partial panel, ILS approaches, procedures, etc all while
: doing the cross countries?

Cross-countries are mostly straight-and-level (obviously). Very little
precision airwork is required. Most of the other stuff can be just as relevant for
VFR cross countries if one choses to do so (thorough weather briefings, V-airways, VFR
flight following, etc)

: You find that a small airplane cockpit is an appropriate classroom for
: teaching IFR flying and procedures (while at the same time the student has
: to fly and navigate)? I would respectfully suggest that a VFR pilot who is
: flying cross country and learning how to fly by instruments is a little busy
: and has little extra processing power to add the additional tasks of
: learning what IFR flying is about.

Absolutely. I would say that a fairly minimal amount of time is necessary to
get a VFR pilot's airplane handling up to IFR snuff (~5 hours or so). Just about
everything after that is reducing the 98% CPU utilization to do so down to about 5% so
that you've got some left over to do everything else that might come up. Knowledge
doesn't stick when you're saturated.

: I certainly agree that the pilot can do cross countries while training, but
: it is not a good way to introcude concepts and learn.

Useful to observe, but marginally useful if having them deal with everything
required during said cross-country saturates them.

-Cory


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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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