Instrument training

Because you are moving to the San Fernando Valley and will want that IR
ticket to work with the marine layer
BT

"xxx" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've got about 6 hours now and find it not the slightest bit
fun.

Can anyone remind me why I'm inflicting this on myself?

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
...
When you are starting new, all you get is aches and
pains. When you get past that, you will start seeing the
benefits of good health.

Good health is just the slowest way of dying... Same destination as the
people with crappy health, you just get there later... Assuming you don't
get run over by a soccer mom driving, talking on her cell phone, and doing
her makeup all at the same time...

In article . com,
"xxx" wrote:

I've got about 6 hours now and find it not the slightest bit
fun.

Can anyone remind me why I'm inflicting this on myself?

You said you were moving to the San Fernando Valley. We get "June
gloom" here, marine-layer overcast that creates 500-1000 foot ceilings
with tops at 2000-3000 and very smooth air. It keeps all the VFR
weenies grounded, while we IFR rated pilots get to pop out on top of a
perfectly smooth, perfectly white cloud layer that stretches to the
horizon and sparkles in the morning sun like a fresh snowfall making it
look like you're flying in the middle of nowhere instead of over Los
Angeles. It's one of the most beautiful things you'll ever see.

You're inflicting this on yourself because it's even more beautiful from
the left seat :-)

rg

Because flying above the clouds, etc., is the second biggest thrill, after
sex.

I thought sex was for people who didn't fly aeroplanes?

Actually, flying the ILS to minimums (as I did Wednesday going into
Boston Logan on an Angel Flight) and seeing those beautiful lights in
front of you when you are at 250 ft is certainly among THE greatest
thrills.

There are many, many times when ONLY the immediate area of the airport
is fogged in, particularly Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and
Boston. After an IFR departure, in 20 minutes you can be in clear blue
VFR. Without the rating, you are STUCK until the fog lifts.

This discussion has surfaced frequently over the years I have been on
this NG . . . and I remain a strong advocate of the Instrument Rating
when it comes to optimum utilitization of an aircraft and pilot's
advanced education.

I don't see ANY downside.

I HATE the foggles. I am required to wear reading glasses when I fly,
and for good reason. I need them to read charts, plates, and GPS.
They work fine. But putting on the foggles makes me unable to read
even with the glasses. So I have to look down, raise the foggles
enough to be able to read, and then replace them. It sucks.

wrote:
Actually, flying the ILS to minimums (as I did Wednesday going into
Boston Logan on an Angel Flight) and seeing those beautiful lights in
front of you when you are at 250 ft is certainly among THE greatest
thrills.

Yes!

As a couple of people have mentioned, Angel Flight is a good reason, among many
others. Since my spouse is aerophobic, Angel Flights are a good outlet for me to
take airplane trips, help someone out a little, and take a tax deduction. I
wouldn't be doing that without an instrument rating.

Ditto the thrill of breaking out to the sight of approach lights, as I did on an
Angel Flight to Rome, GA a couple of weeks ago.

Like the feeling of seeing the ground slide away on takeoff, the feeling of
seeing those approach lights through the rain just never gets old.

Despite the above, I think the best reason is what someone else also said: if
you're going to use your plane for trips of more than a few hundred miles or
more than one day, you'll cancel a lot of trips if you don't have the rating.
Finding widespread VMC over a multi-day period is just not that common where I live.

Dave

"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message
online.com...
Others have mentioned the instructor as a possible issue. But I recall
how,
early in my training, I tried several different "view limiting devices"
before I found one (Foggles) that I disliked the least.

As much as I did enjoy the IR training, I never grew to like the foggles.
It was especially bad when I got a new pair of glasses that were smaller
in
the vertical dimension than my previous pair. The area blocked by the
foggles covered most of my corrected vision range.

Foggles, and in fact all the other vision limiting devices that you attach
yourself, are a pain in the butt. The only type of thing I found any good
was to have louvred screens in the aircraft which prevent the left-seat
driver from seeing out of his/her side of the windscreen and the side
windows, but which allow the resident of the right seat to see OK.

D.

David Cartwright wrote:

Foggles, and in fact all the other vision limiting devices that you attach
yourself, are a pain in the butt.

You're using them improperly.

- Andrew (who couldn't resist {8^)

Ross,
Have you tried bifocal or variable focus glasses? We use them with
the Flipup JeffShades which are quite comfortable.