Curious about flying in IFR

In article ,
wrote:

I've only flown through a few light clouds,
and a couple of twilight evenings with pretty
good evening light. (had the red cockpit light on)
So that wasn't IFR.

Then flew out of Atlanta for an hour wearing the
hood for training. A little nauseating, but other
than that just kept my eye on the six-pack.

I keep trying to imagine flying in a white-out
for an extended period of time. Wouldn't you be
focused on your instruments enough to discern
orientation? (not counting synthetic vision).

Can't quite picture getting upside down without
gravity and attitude indicator letting me know
how OFF you are.

I still remember the first time I went "wet." Indeed, anybody who
hasn't gone through that might want to consider my experience. I'd been
under the hood several times, had more-or-less "mastered" a few
simulators, etc. etc. and thought that I was prepared for the **real
thing**. I'd been flying for 14 years, had 1300 hours, and thought I
knew something about flying an airplane.

The airplane was a B Navion, with King KX160/glideslope, KX150B, Lear
ADF-12, and Brittain autopilot---very "up to date" for 1966 (which this
was). Had a CFII with many hours who wanted to go from Mass to Maine to
look at an airplane, and offered to ride shotgun. Weather, low
overcast, with snow forecast.

So, off we went. Gear up, and we went wet in the overcast before the
gear was up and locked. Absolute panic---I lost it immediately;
hollered HELP to my companion. "Turn on the autopilot" sez he. So I
did. That saved my bacon. By the time we'd climbed to our assigned
altitude, I dared to turn the autopilot back off, and touch the controls
gingerly. We were still wet, but I was able to level off, get on
course, and gradually got a little more comfortable with things. It was
VFR at our destination, so we didn't have to do more than a VOR
approach.

The return trip was VFR back into the soup after we were on course, so
that wasn't much of a problem, but the home airport was close to ILS
minimums, which the CFII flew once I got to the IAF.

Debriefing after we landed, I told the CFII that I was astounded that
after the amount of hood and simulator experience I had, that I'd lost
it the moment we went wet. He told me, "That's what they all do the
first time." That experience convinced me that I needed an instrument
rating RIGHT NOW if that airplane was going to be of any use to me.

Fast forward a few weeks, when I was able to line up a CFII who could
fly with me nearly every day. So I went out almost daily, after calling
the weather to find the closest IFR conditions, which were never more
than 30-40 minutes away, and often, much closer, for that airplane.
The regulations say that you need 40 hours of training, under the hood,
actual, or approved simulator. After 10 hours, I felt I was getting
nowhere. Ten more, and things were showing improvement. At 30 hours, I
figured I had 20+ to go---the moment things got busy, I'd get behind.
Then, 40 hours came, and I was ready for the check ride. I was
astounded at how things finally came together in that last 10 hours.
As luck would have it, my instructor needed to take a guy down to IAD
and didn't have an airplane available, before my check ride appointment,
so we used mine with no charge from the CFII for riding shotgun with me.
That was a trip-and-a-half, wet every inch of the way, clearance
screwups, bad handoffs, etc. etc. So I went for the check ride with 47
hours, and it was a piece of cake.

That, of course, was nearly 50 years ago, and I flew the Navion, a
Bonanza, and a C182 pretty regularly for about 35 of those years as
business transportation. Had a few adventures along the way, and I can
assure you that it is not too hard to get yourself into an "unusual
attitude" a time or two. The day came when I no longer flew regularly,
and had to decide that if I wasn't doing an hour of wet time a week, I
was out of currency for hard IFR, and was an accident waiting to happen.

One point I haven't seen brought out here is that IFR training was where
I really learned how to fly an airplane. Simple things like holding
altitude and heading apply to VFR as well. I think anyone who has been
through the process will tell you that IFR training is an opportunity to
get **real** as a pilot, whether you do a lot of wet time or not.

Hank