IFR just 5.4% of the time

"Peter R." wrote:

However, I no long harbor the notion that an IR is going to help us
fly more, or longer, or more regularly -- at least not until we can
afford something like a Pilatus.

Now that I have several hundred hours since my instrument rating, I would
never trade it in for a VFR-only rating.


Ditto.

Not having the instrument rating is like not being able to drive on the
interstate highway system: you can get where you're going, but it's going to
be difficult or inconvenient at times.

My favorite illustration of this is the time I stopped for fuel at an airport
that was under a low ceiling. On the ramp were about a dozen National Guard
helicopters and in the FBO were their fretting pilots who were missing tee
times, kids outings and hot dates because they had been waiting several hours
to get out from under 500 feet of scud.

Do without the rating? No way.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

The real bottom line to this is having managed to meet the PTS for the
IR makes you a more proficient pilot ... And while skills need
practice to keep them honed to a razors edge, being more proficient
carries over into better decisions and safer flying overall...
Insurance companies offer a premium discount to the instrument rating
- must be a reason for this...

Bottom line is every pilot should take the training for the IR... Even
if he never uses the rating he will benefit..

denny

I'd have to disagree with at least part of this. I don't deny that a
single station may be IFR only 5% of the time, but I've often
overflown KIOW en route to Des Moines, and have found that weather can
be fine VFR at both ends, while there is often uncomfortable cloud
cover around the Mississippi River. I've had similar experiences
flying up to Michigan - good VFR at both ends, but a choice between
1500 AGL and 10,000 en route to stay clear of clouds.

In addition, I've flown over Lake Michigan in VFR weather but had to
use instruments for lack of any visible horizon only 5 mi offshore.

Flying into Chicago VFR, flight following is almost always terminated
just when you need it most, while under IFR you can receive traffic
advisories in a very active airspace.

What the rating provides is comfort, knowing that in the absence of
Tstorm activity and icing, I don't have to sweat about clouds.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
As another VFR pilot I am not surprised.

I know you're not, Gene -- but you're the exception. You've flown
more cross-country VFR flights than any active pilot I know.

One thing I think the IR *does* give many pilots is the confidence
boost they needed to launch on a truly cross-country flight. The fact
that their enhanced weather-handling ability is largely illusory
(again, unless they're flying a Pilatus) is irrelevant -- the rating
gives them the extra confidence necessary to launch themselves into
the unknown.

"Oz didn't give nuthin' to the Tin Man, that he didn't already
have..."

My observation is that most pilots rarely leave their home state.
Many local pilots rarely leave a five-county area.

Hoooboy...

My average CC is about 500nm, but then I don't do any business in my home
state. I'd guess I've done IFR approaches to my old base, maybe a half dozen
times in the past seven years, but nearly 100 at my destinations.


--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC
Colorado Springs, CO

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
and a truly tiny set that were
canceled due to "soft IFR" conditions that we
would feel safe flying Atlas in.

What conditions are those? Sounds like you would be comfortable making
up your own rules. Would you be comfortable letting everyone make up
their own rules?

Ah, I guess that wasn't clear. That line should read:

"...that were canceled due to 'soft IFR' conditions that we would feel
safe flying Atlas in IF WE HAD THE INSTRUMENT RATING."

Good thing you don't have a widely dispersed chain of hotels that you
absitively had to go to! :~)
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC
Colorado Springs, CO

The fact
that their enhanced weather-handling ability is largely illusory
(again, unless they're flying a Pilatus) is irrelevant --

say what? You think me and my cherokee can't handle IMC?
IMC isn't just ice and thunderstorms.

I said "largely" illusory -- not *entirely*.

Here's why: It's IFR 5.4% of the time, and your IFR ticket will
definitely help you fly out of that, as opposed to my VFR-only
ticket. However, what makes the IR's weather-handling ability
"largely illusory" is that your aircraft (and mine) can't fly in a
(currently unknown, but suspected to be large)percentage of that
5.4%.

Around here, I'd say it's well upwards of 50% of IFR conditions are
unflyable in my plane, regardless of pilot rating.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

My observation is that most pilots rarely leave their home state.
Many local pilots rarely leave a five-county area.

My average CC is about 500nm, but then I don't do any business in my home
state. I'd guess I've done IFR approaches to my old base, maybe a half dozen
times in the past seven years, but nearly 100 at my destinations.

You are clearly NOT the average pilot, Matt.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Good thing you don't have a widely dispersed chain of hotels that you
absitively had to go to! :~)

If I did, I'd definitely have an instrument rating, and I certainly
would not own a Pathfinder.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I think that is somewhat unique to your location.

Absolutely. If I were still living on the shores of Lake Michigan, I
certainly would have obtained the IR by now, just to get up and
through the scuddy crud that often seems to lay 10 miles inland from
the lakeshore.

The vast majority of the country, however, is not on a large body of
water, nor mountainous, which is what makes the IR a low priority for
many pilots.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay, in the northeast, about 10% of my preplanned trips are cancelled
due to IMC conditions my M20J and/or me are not able to handle. More
than half would have been had I needed to fly VFR. Think of these
trips being 300 to 700 mile XC on a predetermined schedule to various
meetings.

An instrument rating improved the effectiveness of the airplane for my
use profile from about 50% to about 90%. I don't know enough about
other parts of the country, but IMC, soft or hard, are likely to be
found within a few hundred miles miles of my home base much of the
time, and summertime low vis .with haze happens around cities where I
want to go.




On Mar 1, 11:58 am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
The fact
that their enhanced weather-handling ability is largely illusory
(again, unless they're flying a Pilatus) is irrelevant --

say what? You think me and my cherokee can't handle IMC?
IMC isn't just ice and thunderstorms.

I said "largely" illusory -- not *entirely*.

Here's why: It's IFR 5.4% of the time, and your IFR ticket will
definitely help you fly out of that, as opposed to my VFR-only
ticket. However, what makes the IR's weather-handling ability
"largely illusory" is that your aircraft (and mine) can't fly in a
(currently unknown, but suspected to be large)percentage of that
5.4%.

Around here, I'd say it's well upwards of 50% of IFR conditions are
unflyable in my plane, regardless of pilot rating.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"