My definition of "hard" IFR is solid clouds, moderate turbulence,
up/down drafts, and no autopilot for say, 3 hours straight. Then a
landing to minimums.

I believe the distinction you were shooting for was "IMC" vs. "VMC" on
an IFR flight plan.

A clarification on one point. You say you cannot "use" portable devices
on an IFR flight. Maybe you made this distinction in an earlier post to
this thread, but I don't believe there are any regs that say you cannot
"use" portable, non installed, or non approved electronics at any time
(VFR or IFR). They cannot be relied upon as "primary" sources of
navigation (information). They also cannot "interfere" with those
primary instruments/electronics. Having an IPAQ hooked up to an inertial
unit to display pitch and bank, and having a portable moving map running
while on an IFR flight is, I believe, perfectly legal. However, to make
the IFR flight "legally", you must have approved instruments and
navigational gear running as your "primary" sources of flight information.

Now, if you have an accident (and live), there is always the possibility
you could be dinged by the FAA or the insurance company for having that
stuff "in the way" or "causing a distraction" that led to the accident.
I believe this would fit in the FAA's "careless and reckless" operation
category.

I have to dust off the regs and check. It has been a few years since I
had to take the test.

Mike

Dave wrote:
Perhaps I should clarify rather than change my tune. Hard IFR would
imply to me that you are flying under IFR. When the FAA says "under
IFR", I take that to mean you are filed - regardless of whether the
conditions warrant it. But an being on an IFR flight plan would not
necessarily imply that the conditions are IMC.

So, yeah - you could be flying an IFR plan(i.e. "under IFR") with
perfectly good VFR conditions. The reg would indicate that *any*time
you are on an IFR plan (i.e. "under IFR"), regardless of the weather,
you can't use portable electronics. My original comment about not
being able to use the laptop while in "hard IFR" implied that you are
flying on an IFR plan (i.e. "under IFR"), hence under IFR regs and
could not therefore legally use it.


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