Are pilots really good or just lucky???

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 16:14:35 -0500, Roger wrote:

I was lucky I had instructors who put me through a lot of IMC right
down to minimums so by the time I received my rating I felt competent
(and comfortable) to fly down to minimums and did.

I really have to agree with Roger here!

I had two instructors in my IFR training. My first instructor took me on
days that were down to ILS minimums at HKS. My second instructor will not
fly in solid IMC for any period of time.

The second instructors opinion was that the purpose of an IFR ticket in a
single engine was to climb through the deck, get on top, and then decend
through the deck and land.

My first instructor on the other hand had me fly 2.4 in solid IMC doing
approaches and gave me the confidence to remain in IMC.

Talk about bringing up the confidence level, as when I did my first IFR
approaches after getting my ticket, it was 900 ceiling at HKS, and I felt
like I had a ton of time after breaking out to make the runway.

I had my first hold in solid IMC just three weeks ago, so again, because my
first instructor gave me the confidence, it really was no big deal. Just
rather boring going circles for 15 minutes.

So, depending on your instructor, probably will dictate your own confidence
level. After all, you practice down to minimums under the hood, it's no
different then in IMC.

As far as passengers, I took my wife up for her first trip. Granted, she
has been great throughout my flying experiences, but she was not
comfortable in solid IMC. It was smooth as silk, and we were in IMC for 40
minutes until I got on top at 8000 feet further down the road. She didn't
like the fact that she felt like a "speck" with no visual references. So,
each passenger will have their own tolerences.

To be honest, I wouldn't hesitate to take a passenger up in IMC, as if you
treat it as "normal", the passenger will not know any difference anyway.
It's when the pilot shows some concern, that the passenger will pick up on
that concern.

As far as comfort, turbulence has the most impact on passengers from my
experiences. Smooth air, and IMC really doesn't bother a passenger who
thinks it's perfectly normal.

Allen